Coleus

Coleus is color without flowers, which is why it carries a shaded porch from May to October when almost nothing else will. The leaves come in lime, burgundy, rust, pink and near-black, often three of those on one leaf. It works as the filler in shade planters and as the tall centerpiece in sun ones, now that the sun-tolerant cultivars exist.

In the Upstate

Coleus is a tender annual anywhere in South Carolina. The first frost kills it outright, and a cold snap makes it drop leaves and look miserable. It goes out from mid-April, later if the nights are still cool, and it hits full size fast. Our humidity is fine for it. The catch is the sun: the old shade types bleach and scorch on a west-facing porch, so match the cultivar to the exposure rather than guess.

In a container

Depending on the cultivar it is a 12 inch filler or a 3 foot centerpiece, and the wide ones spread as far as they stand. A pot dries out much faster than a bed, so in July a coleus in full sun may want water every day. Pinch the growing tips often through spring and early summer so it branches instead of stretching. Flower spikes show up in late summer. Pinch those off too, since a coleus that goes to seed starts to decline.

Care

Water at the soil, not over the leaves, and let the top inch dry before you water again. Feed in June, July and August with an all-purpose soluble fertilizer, but not a bloom booster, because the extra phosphorus makes it leggy and pushes flowers. Watch for mealybugs and whiteflies. The one thing that kills it is wet feet: a heavy mix or a saucer of water brings stem and root rot, and the leaves go muddy brown at the edges.