Question on my Coleus....

Question on my Coleus.... (post #12033)

Jules_allsmiley on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 17:44

Feedback On Fine Gardening

I was just watching a video on pinching your Coleus to help it grow how you want. I have 2 different kinds but, I don't know if Coleus' are annuals or not. What should I do now that we are well into Fall? Will it come back next year? Should I chop it down to the ground or prune back...way back?

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by Catskill Deb in reply to Jules_allsmiley [original] on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:45

You don't say in your profile where you live. For most of us in the U.S., coleus are annuals.

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by Jules_allsmiley in reply to Anonymous [original] on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 19:58

HI!!

Oh...I meant to, I guess I forgot...sorry.

I live in the Northwest, in Oregon. We are 3 hrs east of Portland, and a five minute walk south from the Columbia River. This area is very sandy/desert like. We have tumbleweeds and goatheads. But gardens do pretty well out here. I bought 3 Coleus plants in town and put hem in my flowerbed in front of my house. They are turning brown now.

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by the country gardener in reply to Anonymous [original] on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 21:35

They are annuals for us in the PNW, especially if you're out in sagebrush country. Write down the names of the ones you liked the best, so you can find them again next year.

Marty

"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins

Marty

"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins

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by 1946 in reply to Anonymous [original] on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 22:14

If you really want to keep these particular coleuses look around the base of the plant to see is there are any healthy looking branches. If there are you can take a cutting as they root quite easily in water or a plant starting mix. Then you can pot them up as house plants for the winter if you feel the plants are worth the effort.

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by Abbie in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sat, 10/17/2009 - 20:00

I have coleus that I've kept for a while. It had spent the warm months in a pot on the front porch. When it began to get cold and was trying to set seed and shut down, I cut it back to the first healthy leaves on each stem and brought it indoors in the pot. My expectation is that it will leaf out again and, hopefully, last through the winter, unless it's lost the necessary vigor to survive.

The other suggestions are the usual way of getting new plants from tender plants such as geraniums (pelargoniums), coleus and the like but I have had little success with this method (probably my fault). Also, if you want to try a coleus that will be different from what you've got, let the seeds get thoroughly dry (they're tiny black seeds in the flowers), save them in a cool dry place, then try growing them during the winter indoors.

Northern Virginia, Zone 7A.

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by Jules_allsmiley in reply to Anonymous [original] on Sun, 10/18/2009 - 21:47

Thanks guys!!! I'll go out and take a peek at them, see what I can do. (just had surgery 11 days ago so not very mobile) Hopefully I can get my daughter to help me with my decision.

Thanks again!!

Jules

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by jeana in reply to Jules_allsmiley [original] on Fri, 10/16/2009 - 22:18

If you have a sunny window, you can clip a couple of stems (about 6" long) and put them in water and keep them that way. They won't thrive but they should make it through winter and be ready to be potted in the spring.

Jeana

Never try to baptize a cat.

Jeana Never try to baptize a cat.

Question on my Coleus....