"There is a destiny that makes us brothers:
None goes his way alone:
All that we send into the lives of others
Comes back into our own."

Edwin Markham

Thursday, August 11, 2011

I Love Coleus

I love Coleus! One of the best things about spring is that first visit to the garden centre, and the opportunity to see all of the gorgeous new Coleus plants. Imagine how thrilled I was to read "Love's" most recent post about her efforts to save her beautiful Sun Coleus:  http://ijustlovequilts.blogspot.com/2011/08/another-week-of-over-100-degree-weather.html

My front yard faces north, and over the years I have planted lots of different annuals. Begonias, Impatiens, and Coleus are the ones I can usually count on to do well. Here is a picture from last year. Coleus and non-stop Begonias. The Coleus very nearly took over the pot.


Here is this year's version. The Coleus are missing! Eight different Coleus plants (two at a time) were planted in the pot. None lived more than a few days thanks to our extremely cool spring. (Cold overnight lows, cool daytime highs, and a nasty north wind.) The Begonias were doing fairly well until last week, when three severe hailstorms nearly decimated the plants. 


          Last year's Impatiens did well with very little sun. This year's pot is struggling.



I have not planted a garden in years, but on one of my visits to the garden centre in mid June I decided to buy a couple of tomato plants. They are thriving! If the first frost holds off until the end of September, we might get to enjoy some of these little beauties. They are still pretty small. The Blanket Flowers (they once blanketed the prairies) usually take over this bit of garden.


I don't have much of a green thumb, but that doesn't stop me from trying. Now, it's back to my sewing room!

Sandy

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos of your flowers! This has been a hard year for gardens everywhere. In the Southwest USA my plants are cooking in the sun. Things that did well other years are dry and struggling even when I water them a lot. My morning glories wilt in the afternoons but perk up again late in the day and are beautiful in the early morning. My impatients are doing well but I have to keep them out of the mid-day sun. My tomatoes were doing well, slowed down and are now growing again. We have only had 4 that we could eat of the big ones and the cherry tomatoes are doing OK. Maybe next year will be better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your coleus was beautiful too, and your others look much better than anything else in my yard!
    I still cannot believe my sun coleus has survived the many 100+ days here! I'm going to get more like it next year. A couple of branches got broken in the move, and I stuck them in some water, and they have rooted! Maybe I can over-winter some in pots in the house and not have to buy them next year....maybe! This certainly has not been a year for ANYthing outside! The temps are awful, but what we need even more is rain for our parched earth! ---"Love"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Try double potting the coleus next year. Use nesting pots, put the larger in the planter and the coleus in the smaller. Then you can lift the coleus out and put it in a warmer place to protect it from the cold and put it back the next day.

    Liri

    ReplyDelete