Hello to all you coleus lovers. A long-time fan of coleus' marvelous color assortments I must admit that I have not grown them for quite some time, but as I read over the Coleus forum postings, I have decided to give it another try. I've noticed that not many recent postings since the beginning of fall. Hope to see much more as spring approaches in a few months.
A friend from church, aware of my affinity for plants, recently gave me two coleus plants. One I did not care too much for - it was far too large for my liking - so I cut it back quite severely, but now looks much better. It is green and purple and very, very frilly - hardly any leaf - mostly frills. Doesn't really appeal to me at all, but since it was a gift I thought I had better give it a fighting chance - maybe it will grow on me after awhile.
The second plant was fairly large also and a brilliant red- really beautiful and really like it a lot. New growth is showing a lot of green along with pale red instead of the bright red of the mother plant. I assume this to be a result of my less than desirable indoor lighting. I have already taken two cuttings and in process of trying to root them in water. If this is successful I will be taking several more cuttings in anticipation of bright red in the spring when I am able to acclimate them to outdoor patio growing.
Am also rooting cuttings from Wandering Jew and another house plant whose name escapes me at the moment. Have read postings relative to rooting in potting soil vs water, but have not yet tried the potting soil method. I seem to have good luck with the water method.
Have been looking at various seed company offerings and will probably order a few packets for spring. Local plant offerings at Home Depot and Walmart are pretty much the usual "run of the mill" varieties - same thing year after year, but I will look at them more closely and check some of the local nurseries to see what's available next spring. Have been looking at on-line nurseries that offer plants for sale, but most of them are pretty pricey - not to mention additional shipping/handling charges - a little too expensive for the meager gardening budget of this aging gardener - recently turned 89 years old and have been fascinated with indoor and outdoor gardening since my early teens.
Would like to hear from any NGA member who might be willing to send me a few cuttings next spring. Will be more than happy to pay postage and any other reimbursement desired.
Looking forward to seeing some names and preferably pics of any cuttings you might have available this spring.
Since I live in NW Penna, winter weather does not lend itself to any mailing during the winter months, but after mid-or-end of March the weather begins to warm up a bit for possible mailings.
Looking forward to hearing from you and your wintering-over methods and plans and inspirations for spring planting.
Thanks for listening!
Don
