Coleus, A Houseplant That Adorns The Garden In Summer

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Houseplants that decorate the garden in summer

Most recently, I discovered Coleus as a garden plant. Previously, I considered it purely indoor. And in all guides on floriculture, it is described as a houseplant. This is understandable, because Coleus is an ornamental leafy plant native to tropical Asia and Africa. Once upon a time, all flower shops sold luxurious bushes in pots with beautiful velvet leaves of various colors. On the edges of the leaves there are notches, the edges are always outlined in a different color than the leaf itself.

Coleus

Coleus is a herbaceous perennial, which is often grown as an annual. Its stem is ribbed, tetrahedral, juicy. The flowers are collected in a small raceme, completely inconspicuous. The thinner the soil, the less often the plant is watered, the faster it blooms. At Coleus, the beauty is created by the leaves. If you put it in the brightest place in the room, then the color of the leaves will be the most intense, and the velvety of the leaves will be the most noticeable. In the garden, Coleus sometimes suffers from the midday hot rays of the sun, so you need to create either an openwork small partial shade, or shading at noon. In low light, the leaves lose their brightness, a lot of green appears in them. He can even shed some of the leaves, exposing the stems. This usually happens in winter. As a tropical plant, Coleus loves high humidity and warmth. However, it feels good at low temperatures of 16 -18 degrees. He worries if a window is opened above it in a hot room - it shrinks, even drops leaves, stops growing. Then it takes a long time to recover from the shock. In December-January, it practically does not grow. In the old days, I bought Coleus of my favorite colors in the store and planted them in pots on flower beds. For the winter, she left it to death, because in the spring it was possible to buy new plants in pots in the store again. Now I'm acting differently. Somehow I managed to get Coleus from my friends, the color of which I liked so much that I have been saving it for several years, growing it in the summer in a flower garden in the country, and in the winter on the windowsill in the apartment. In general, I cultivate it as a typical gardener flower. The unusual color of my Coleus isthat if you look at it in the light, then its leaves are ordinary black and burgundy with a green scalloped border. But against the light, it all glows with a bright, stunningly pure burgundy color. Therefore, in the garden, I plant it in such a way that most of the day you can see it against the light. And the shore is like the apple of an eye, because I have never seen such a color, and I have not received it from seeds. In fact, Coleus are easily propagated by seeds. They are sown in February or, if it is not possible to give additional illumination, in March. The ground is the same as for peppers or tomatoes. They dive twice - at the stage of the opened cotyledons, if the seeds are sown too thickly, and at the stage of two or three true leaves. After the second pick, each plant can be planted in its own glass. In the spring, when the night frosts have completely stopped, coleus can be moved and planted in the garden. But first they must be hardened. In summer, the plants must be watered, preventing the soil from drying out under them. Spray in dry weather. Feed with organic or mineral fertilizers no more than once every 3-4 weeks. If the coleus are going to bloom, you need to pinch the inflorescences. If the plants are stretched out, you need to pinch them without waiting for flowering. Then they will start to bush. In the future, you can sow them again annually. If you get some very beautiful specimen, it is better to keep it for many years, propagating by cuttings, because coleus are very easy to cut. This is how I do it with my handsome man: in the fall, when the temperature outside drops to 12 degrees, I cut off half of the plant. I divide the cut piece into cuttings with one or two internodes. I put them in a glass of water, where they quickly give roots. I cut the leaf blades in half, plant the cuttings in cups with earth, cover them with plastic wrap, and put them in a bright place. Now it is important to ensure that in winter the air temperature on the windowsill is not lower than 12-13 degrees, otherwise the roots die. Now the cuttings of my coleus have taken root, and young shoots are growing from the axils of each leaf. Coleus grows very quickly. Usually, by May, rather large bushes grow, which can be cut in half, rooted tops and planted in a flower garden in the country. The halves of the plant remaining in the cups must also be planted in the garden. They will start to bush. The result is a lush, beautiful flower garden. (To be continued)so that in winter the air temperature on the windowsill is not lower than 12-13 degrees, otherwise the roots die. Now the cuttings of my coleus have taken root, and young shoots are growing from the axils of each leaf. Coleus grows very quickly. Usually, by May, rather large bushes grow, which can be cut in half, rooted tops and planted in a flower garden in the country. The halves of the plant remaining in the cups must also be planted in the garden. They will start to bush. The result is a lush, beautiful flower garden. (To be continued)so that in winter the air temperature on the windowsill is not lower than 12-13 degrees, otherwise the roots die. Now the cuttings of my Coleus have taken root, and young shoots are growing from the axils of each leaf. Coleus grows very quickly. Usually, by May, rather large bushes grow, which can be cut in half, rooted tops and planted in a flower garden in the country. The halves of the plant remaining in the cups must also be planted in the garden. They will start to bush. The result is a lush, beautiful flower garden. (To be continued)also need to be planted in the garden. They will start to bush. The result is a lush, beautiful flower garden. (To be continued)also need to be planted in the garden. They will start to bush. The result is a lush, beautiful flower garden. (To be continued)