Coleus!

At City Container we believe you can choose a wide variety of plants to put in a your container garden as long as that selection includes Coleus. Coleus is a must in any successful summer container. Coleus gives your container garden structure, fills in any voids left by annuals that slow down during the hottest part of our Chicago summer and comes in so many varieties and colors it is sure to give your container the extra wow it needs.

Even if you’re not familiar with coleus there is a good chance you’ve seen it but didn’t know it. Coleus is a annual known for it’s dramatic foliage. It comes in a wide variety of colors, leaf shapes and sizes. It’s had to choose a favorite variety. Coleus comes in vibrant lime greens, hot pinks, purples, crimson reds and poppy oranges. It’s variegated leaves combine vibrantly complimentary colors like lime green and purple in the fishnet stocking variety and hot pinks and magenta in the main street ruby road variety. These combinations make a stunning statement in any garden!

One of the most amazing things about coleus is it’s ability to grow just about any where. Whether you have full sun or full shade coleus will add an amazing texture and color to your garden. They are a great container garden accent or anchor and even make a wonderful boarder or accent to your perennial beds.

Upright varieties such as Proven Winners ColorBlaze rediculous get as large as a small shrub reaching heights of 30-40in tall while some varietals such as lava rose only reach a height of 6-10” adding a delicate trailing texture to a container garden.

Wondering how to maintain this amazing plant? Don’t! They amazing low maintenance and disease resistant. All coleus really needs is regular watering, some good fertilization (I recommend adding a slow release fertilizer at the beginning of the growing season) and some well drained soil to grow.

While coleus does flower it is really cultivated for it’s foliage. I recommend keep it pruned at the first sign of budding to prevent flowering and encourage fuller leafier plant growth. Want an even lower maintenance variety look for some cultivars such as the ColorBlaze by proven winners which are engineered not to flower.

Coleus is among my favorite garden annuals. Looking for inspiration on how you can use coleus in your garden? Check out our portfolio.