- Plum Frost Leaves Darken with More Sunlight - Chris Eirschele
A collection of coleus plants in a rectangular planter box makes an indoor garden. Choose plants that will grow well in similar light but with contrasting leaf structures and similar colors. There are a variety of purple coleus plants to pick from.
Tall Coleus Plum Frost
Solenostemon ‘Plum Frost’ is a tall upright coleus plant that develops a loose open growth habit. The plant will grow 20” – 25” tall and tolerates morning sun. The ruffled leaves are purple almost black, especially as they age, with green centers.
S. ‘Plum Frost’ needs to be pinched back to encourage good branching. This coleus will look good in outdoor gardens and can be mixed with mostly green or red coleus plants, too.
Kiwi Herman from Baker’s Acres Greenhouse
Baker’s Acres Greenhouse introduced Solenostemon ‘Kiwi Herman.’ It is an elongate coleus, indicating that the leaves grow longer than they are wide. The red and violet leaves are edged with green. The plant will grow up to 24” tall with an inter-weaved appearance.
A sport of Solenostemon ‘Kiwi Fern,’ it has the same long narrow deeply lobed leaves. However, the similar coloring is without the yellow margins around the leaves.
Duckfoot Coleus Cantigny Royale
Solenostemon ‘Cantigny Royale’ is a duckfoot type coleus plant. It stays small reaching 15” tall.
S. ‘Cantigny Royale’ needs bright light or morning sun to avoid the plant stretching and to develop the dark purplish leaves. As with other duckfoot types, this coleus is useful for filling in empty space with other taller plants.
Solenostemon Plant Culture
While coleus is easy to grow, specific details about Solenostemon plant culture helps understand what causes the colors to change in coleus. Coleus colors are impacted by amounts of sunlight, as well as the health of the plant. Dark colored cultivars like morning sun more than those with paler shades. In cultivars with a mix of dark and light colors, too much sun will burn out the lighter section turning it brown.
Although generally known as a shade plant, coleus with too little light will develop frail stems, thin leaves and nodes spaced too far apart. The node spacing determines how open the plant will appear, causing leaves to stretch out.
In an indoor garden, a basic light potting soil mixed with balanced fertilizer pellets are all that is needed to pot the planter box. Weekly watering is sufficient moisture, gardeners should avoid either a too wet or too dry for too long situation.
Planter Box with Coleus
Gardeners can create a coleus collection indoors. An interesting selection would include different favorite colors, a variety of leaf shapes and plant sizes.
For gardeners interested in the colors of coleus, Coleus: Rainbow Foliage for Containers and Gardens by Ray Rogers includes more than 225 varieties accompanied by photos.
Permission received for all photos used in this article.
Chris Eirschele - Chris writes on plants grown and gardens explored; she is a member of the Garden Writers Association.
