A few weeks ago I stopped in to our local Southern States to see what plants they had in stock and to pick up some more onion seedlings (my husband thought that 120 onions wasn't enough, so now we have about 180 growing!). As I was poking around the annuals section, I was immediately drawn to the coleus.
Years ago, I grew coleus from seed in containers on our shady back patio. It was easy to grow and did well in our very shady garden. Since moving to our super sun-drenched garden though, I haven't given it as much as a fleeting thought.
Until last week.
The coleus our Southern States had was much fancier and more colorful than what I remembered growing and I kept finding myself back in the coleus aisle admiring the uber colorful leaves. I couldn't get enough of it... I was like a moth to a flame!
I decided that I absolutely and positively needed to buy a few to grow in containers on the shadier side of the house. The area on the north side of our house gets morning sun, but then is pretty shady for the rest of the day and I thought it would be a good place for the coleus, especially in containers right off the porch.
Coleus and Dusty Miller
So, I put a few in my cart. As beautiful as the coleus was all by itself, I thought it would look even better with some bling, so I decided to get some Dusty Miller to plant in with the coleus. I really like the way the woolly, silvery light leaves of the Dusty Miller pop against the colorful & bright coleus. Dusty Miller likes a bit of shade in the afternoon, so it seems like a perfect combination.
Below are a few photos I snapped of the coleus & dusty miller combination I planted in a large pot. I placed one coleus in the center and three dusty millers around the outside. Don't you think the combination of textures and colors really work well together?
On a side note, after planting everything together, I realized that the variety of coleus I bought is called "Kong Coleus" and the leaves can grow up to 8 or 10 inches... Oh. My. God. It'll be interesting to see how they do together once the now little coleus plant goes "KONG"!
Join the Conversation!