I hope that this is a part of the landscape photo I have just posted as a "thread" and not a separate photo.

The Red Bud shown is a "Weeping" Chinese Red Bud ... not an option available in tagging the photo. The 2 unnamed coleus plants are a seedling of mine. I have uploaded a photo of the original plant.

My coleus plants have given me great pleasure ... not only the spectacular new introductions introduced each year commercially -- but also from my seedlings. I used to hybridize daylilies and iris - carefully collecting the pollen and making selected labeled crosses. Then planting and evaluating seedlings. Going out into the garden and seeing the first blooms was like a kid on Christmas day checking out all of the goodies left under the tree by Santa. If you've never tried a hand - highly recommended.

With the coleus, I never got that scientific. I would collect a flower spike from the "father" and simply run/wipe it over the flower spike from the selected female. Sometimes repeated for several days. Admittedly, not very scientific. I didn't even bother to collect the seeds ... just left them all to their own devices. Every Spring, I would be gifted with a number of "volunteers". Part of my thinking (maybe just an excuse for the laziness of not going about this the right way) was that anything surviving our New Jersey Winter coupled with total lack of care or any special treatment -- would yield, if nothing else, a "hearty" coleus. The seedling illustrated below is an example of one of my "results". As you can see, it is growing in a crevice between the patio pavers. The back wall is one side of our deck. The back of our house is on the north side - perfect for Kong Coleus.




This seedling was cut off last October and over wintered ... Of all the coleus in my garden, this one is truly a "survivor". In spite of the almost positive "Kong" heritage - this one grows in full (100% shade), mixed sun/shade, and even in 100% full sun. Colors vary from an almost solid green with no markings (in deep shade) to more pronounced "veining" depending upon sunlight. Obviously, I have no way of knowing the parentage -- but if I had to guess it would be a Kong coleus x Vern Ogren's Charlotte's Web. Probably have wandered on too long already, but if there is interest I would upload some of my other seedlings.