I Love Coleus

Coleus
Originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Okay, by now I have firmly established my love of my gardens. Notice I carefully chose my words here; as the act of actually gardening is something that I engage in occasionally, but far prefer the fruits to the labors! And that is one reason why I LOVE Coleus. Coleus, the psychedelic leafy wonder from south central Asia, is an amazing addition to any garden.

Unlike most flowers, it's always "in bloom". And it comes in such a wonderful variety of colors from brown to purple to scarlet to rust, and on into various greens right up to yellow and cream. Like most varieties of plants (azaleas, iris, geraniums...) there are major serious growers and cultivators of this species; but hey, just look at what I found at the local Home Depot?

The Photos were taken on a recent morning in the midst of several days of tropical rain and humidity (felt more like Viet Nam or Venezuela than Washington, DC). These coleus are all in containers (just another reason to love them...they flourish in the wild and in captivity equally well.) The top photo has the varieties "Chartreuse" on the left and "Royalty" on the right, and the bottom picture shows "Va Va Voom" in the back (top) and "Hurricane Louise" in the main/foreground. The latter is now also blooming with delicate little lavender blossoms. For all the images of Coleus that anyone could want, visit: http://www.glasshouseworks.com/gallery2.html

Take a tour of their 24 galleries, and, like me, imagine the possibilities.