‘Colour Blaze’ Coleus are a real breakthrough in plant breeding and selection of Coleus. These varieties are very slow to send up flowers which is one of the banes of older selections. Any flowers that do develop, please prune off below the flower head. The foliage of Coleus is the reason gardeners plant them for the tropical effects they give to the garden with the minimum of fuss. Aside from this benefit which is very real the cut stems will last very well for several days in floral arrangements indoors.
No matter what you do if you have a semi shaded to sunny area, you need to consider planting these foliage shrubs. Semi shade will grow larger leaves which accentuates the foliage and form of the plant. Growing up to 100cm tall these three selections are so bushy with a spread of 75 cm. In the garden we have not seen any flower spikes on ‘Golden Dreams’, ‘Rediculous’ and ‘Torchlight’ as they grow, since planting them in the early part of the year.
‘Colour Blaze’ Coleus are strong growers during the growing season they need regular watering and addition of balanced fertiliser at monthly intervals. Watch for the odd insect that may come to visit and treat accordingly. Pruning if needed is best done in the warmer months of the year.
Coleus breeding has given us outstanding and better plantings over the last few years. The sub-tropical garden is easy with these plants as part of the selection. Colourful foliage includes the golden leaves with red veining of ‘Golden Dreams’, the rusty full reds of ‘Rediculous’ and the blaze of reds, dark purples and some lighter tones of ‘Torchlight’. ‘Solenostemon scutellarioides which is the major parent of these three selections is a native plant in Malaysia and through other South East Asian countries.