Coleus plants are easy to care for, low-maintenance, and grow quickly, which makes them ideal for beginners.
But the first step toward adding the colorful foliage to your garden is learning how to care for them properly.
This detailed guide is designed to help anyone successfully grow coleus, no matter your skill level. Discover the best location and soil type, plus how to water, fertilize, prune, and much more.
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Coleus is a tropical tender perennial native to Asia that is popular for its colorful foliage. It’s part of the Lamiaceae, or dead nettle family, which is how it got its second common name, ‘painted nettle’.
The plants range in size from 6” to 3’ tall, with a spread between 1-3’ wide, and leaves that are between 1-6” in length.
The foliage can be oval, pointed, scalloped, or serrated, and feature a multitude of colors such as orange, burgundy, green, red, pink, orange, maroon, and white.
There are two main types of coleus plants – trailing and mounded – and the care requirements are the same for all.
The mounded varieties are more common, have upright compact growth, and are mainly used as border or filler plants.
Trailing types have long tendrils, and are ideal for hanging baskets or ground covers. There are many cultivars to suit your specific garden needs, here are a few of the most popular.
Though they are technically perennials, coleus is not a cold hardy plant. So you can only grow it outdoors year-round if you live in zones 10-11, where the winters are mild.
Temperatures below 40°F (4.4°C) will damage the foliage, while anything below 32°F (0°C) will kill the plant.
But if you live somewhere cold, you can easily move your coleus indoors for winter to keep it alive.
In the late summer coleus plants
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