purpleinopp said:Coleus colors are absolutely variable depending on the light. Some look their best in the direct sun outside all day, especially the 'Florida Sun' series.

Most of the cultivars can only be reproduced via cuttings.

Did not know that.
Learn something everyday.

Thank you @lauriebasler, wow Laurie, how gorgeous are those! Brava girl, wonderful colors. Also, thank you for the great encouragement!

This was full of good info.

Cal the off shoots are called sports .. love a new one showing up

Putting different individuals in different exposures so that their coloring is different is not the same as a plant producing a sport/chimera.

Agreed .. hopefully some new ones will pop up .. that type seems to like to morph

purpleinopp said: Coleus do seem to grow well in humid conditions, but I do not know how picky they are about lower levels, or how low the levels would need to go to cause adverse reaction.

I never dig up root balls to save for winter, just cuttings. For example, the stem on the right in this pic:




They can be put in jars of water:


Or just stuck in pots with already growing plants, as seen in some of the pics from my last post. I usually stick the stems all the way to the bottom of the pot so they stay upright.

Then, in the spring, new cuttings can be stuck wherever new plants are wanted in the landscape:

What is the little ittybitty coleus un the 3rd to the bottom pic?

I am tempted to just dig up the several clumps of mixed coleus growing so beautifully in the garden together, and put them in a bag of soil in a plastic bag in a box and set them in front of a big window in the garage. It is an unheated garage so I would have to somehow warm up the area right around the box _(ideas, anyone?) or just continue to take cuttings to to grow inside in water. Here comes an adventure! Just have to do this before frost hits!

Sharon, that's 'Burgundy Wedding Train' but there are a couple others that are so similar.

I haven't done anything similar enough to your garage idea to offer any feedback on that.

But I have repeatedly great results keeping in jars/bottles of water right by a sunny window, or sticking stems in pots with other houseplants.

Although most Coleus can make great shade plants over summer, they really excel with tons of sun if brought inside for winter.

I like your attitude about having an adventure! Having too rigid of expectations leaves much more room for disappointment. "Let's see if this works" is optimistic without being insistent.

purpleinopp said: Sharon, that's 'Burgundy Wedding Train' but there are a couple others that are so similar.

I haven't done anything similar enough to your garage idea to offer any feedback on that.

But I have repeatedly great results keeping in jars/bottles of water right by a sunny window, or sticking stems in pots with other houseplants.

Although most Coleus can make great shade plants over summer, they really excel with tons of sun if brought inside for winter.

I like your attitude about having an adventure! Having too rigid of expectations leaves much more room for disappointment. "Let's see if this works" is optimistic without being insistent.

I might try several ideas. Because frost was threatening I cut off stems and put in water then covered the plants with a box. Next I will dig them up together for the garage box idea. Also I have ordered a "tower" of planting lobes that fit together, which I think will be a space saver for a sunny window! Ah, a winter adventure coming up!

That sounds like fun! Having some small piece of summer in the house when it's freezing outside can be such a mental boost, and help with the belief that it will warm up again.

You never know if this or that will work @ your house until you try. Best luck! Just be careful because Coleus is not the only perennial-sold-as-annual that can be saved inside over winter. So addiction is a very real possibility. Even if it's just Coleus, do you know there are over 2,000 Coleus cultivars?

There's a guy somewhere around here who was growing a whole veg garden in a tower thing this past winter.

purpleinopp said: That sounds like fun! Having some small piece of summer in the house when it's freezing outside can be such a mental boost, and help with the belief that it will warm up again.

You never know if this or that will work @ your house until you try. Best luck! Just be careful because Coleus is not the only perennial-sold-as-annual that can be saved inside over winter. So addiction is a very real possibility. Even if it's just Coleus, do you know there are over 2,000 Coleus cultivars?

There's a guy somewhere around here who was growing a whole veg garden in a tower thing this past winter.

Sounds like fun....count me in.
We have some coleus-like plants, but not the purple kind. I didn't know you could
keep them going over winter. We don't get them at Home Depot till spring.
Any luck with seeds?

We used to have "creeping charley" with glossy leaves, but haven't seen it in years.
Would love to have a hanging basket of it again.

Cal, I can put some creeping Charlie in your box, if you mean this plant:
Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus)

I have never had a purchased seed sprout but I get occasional sprouts in my landscaping. Two this year. Pics of them are in this discussion:
https://garden.org/thread/go/1...

I'm surprised they don't survive perennially in the ground @ your house, Cal. Do you get frost?

purpleinopp said: Cal, I can put some creeping Charlie in your box, if you mean this plant:
Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus)

Thanks, Tiffany! Yes, would love some.

I have never had a purchased seed sprout but I get occasional sprouts in my landscaping. Two this year. Pics of them are in this discussion:
https://garden.org/thread/go/1...

I'm surprised they don't survive perennially in the ground @ your house, Cal. Do you get frost?

You mean coleus? Yes, haven't had much luck with them.
We have a coleus (I think you or someone else ID'd it for me), but none of
the multicolored types.
I'll upload a pic tomorrow....too dark now.

Yes, that last quote of mine was about Coleus. OK, I will include some of that Plectranthus in your box. : ) I'm especially happy about that because although root hardy, the gorgeous existing stems will sometime soon get zapped by frost.

Thanks, Tiffany!

My pleasure!