Coleus
Plectranthus scutellarioides
A bedding favourite grown for bold, patterned leaves in green, yellow, pink, red and maroon, brightening shady beds, borders, baskets and pots all season, and deer leave it alone. It likes moist, rich soil in part shade; full sun can wilt it and deep shade makes it leggy. Pinch the tips to keep it bushy.
- Mature size
- 1.5 × 2 ft
- 0.5 × 0.6 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 2a–11a
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to full shade
- Water
- Medium to moist
Coleus at its mature size
A mature Coleus grows to about 1.5 ft tall and 2 ft wide.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Clemson Extension.
Through the year
What Coleus looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Below ground · Nov–Apr
Not in the ground: planted after the last frost, pulled after the first.
In leaf · May–Oct
Bushy mound of large toothed leaves, magenta-pink centres edged green and yellow.
Growing Coleus
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Plains and Mountain West, the desert Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, and California.
- Good for
- Shade garden and deer resistant
- Native to
- Southeast Asia and Malaysia
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Coleus, that’s about 2 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Coleus in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.