Coleus Chatters thru Sept 9th!

No! I am forever pulling them up here,They spread faster then a Georgia wildfire.LOL

LOL

Great shot!!!
My goodness how your plants have grown!!!

What is spilling out of that pretty cobalt blue pot on the fence??

Janet

I love the corner garden and our beautiful Hostess. You make quite a window picture.

This message was edited Sep 5, 2007 6:20 PM

Brinda, that is breathtaking. I was sitting here talking to myself going Wow, Wow, Wow. DH came up to see and I got to explain the coleus to him. He loved it. I cannot wait to get my seeds. I love the "mirror". Was it an old mantle piece or window you replaced the glass? I have several old windows and love the idea. It makes the area look twice as big. Really, all I can say is Wow. I love the morning glories. Are they hard to start or does everything just burst into bloom where you are?

Holy Moly (not words I usually use but was advised to be very conservative). I just looked at other pic you have. It is a mirrored window with a built in box, no? I am also a lover of architectual metals and structures or as DH calls it, junk. What are the purple star shaped flowers with the white centers in the box. Are they another morning glory? Your use of different pots and styles is great. I alway described my Mother's yard as an unstructured, natural environment, structured that way. You caught exactly what I mean by this. Please post more so I may get ideas.

Also, your elepant ears make mine look like mouse ears. Have they been growing long? I don't know if the drought is what caused mine to be so sad. I have been staring at the first pic with reflection of the remainder of your garden just trying to see what you have in there. lol. I really can't say how much I love this!!

I feel like I have become quick friends with you guys and gals (don't know the genders except Brinda, unless someone else took photo) and I really appreciate ya'll taking your time with me.

Happy Labor Day. Unfortunely, the family just left and that is what I am going to do, labor. Sooo tired!!

Sincerely
Traci, or as my friends call me, Traci Joe or Lil T.

Pic of 'Teensy' ready to see Grandi Pappy, Unca Jay, Aunt Eka (Erica), and Cousin Cameron (yes she call him that. lol) Only flower I have right now. Waiting by the window. If I weren't her mother, I would question the blond hair.

Tired of waiting and sitting in HER recliner. No one else can sit there. She gets that from her DD.

And finally, Kisses for Grandi (my Mother). Sorry to post so many, but it really hard to pick just one. Don't worry, I took 167 pics of her with family today and narrowed it down to three. It could be worse.

Great photos Traci! Love that last one especially. Your mom is a beautiful lady and so is your daughter. Kid kisses are the best!!! :-)

UniQueTreasures,

I will have to tell Mom that. She will be furious for the post, but delighted with the compliment. She is a three year breast cancer survivor and the chemo wreaked havoc on her appearance. I tell her all the time she looks great, but you know us women, we do have a vain side. I now fully support Susan B. Komen and all they do for women. I plan on trying for the 3 day walk next year.

I do love kid kisses, especially when little mouths are covered with ice cream. That much sweeter. :)

Thanks,
Traci

WOW Brinda,
I cant believe how that corner has grown! Its beautiful. Whatever you're doing, you're doing it right! You are not like I imagined you, for some reason I think of coleus lovers as little old ladies with stern faces always ready to pinch something :-). I was not expecting the pretty young woman behind that camera. It would probably be a nice surprise to see the faces behind the posters here. ( I know a lot of you have met and/are related). Dont ask me to go first!


Traci- Your daughter looks like a little actress i saw in a movie but I cant remember which movie. Beautiful. If you need some cuttings before your seeds take off just holla...or dmail me:-)

Traci, my mother is a breast cancer survivor also. She had a radical mastectomy in 1975. She went through chemo but I don't remember her appearance changing. I was a 15 year old then though and not always observant of life beyond the boys. :/

Janet

Jada, expect d-mail. I don't know if I can wait for the seeds to arrive (Tomorrow hopefully) and start growing. I will post a horrid pic of me and Teensy learning to garden together. After that day, I realized why long sleeves and bug spray are a necessity. At least I had the sense to but some on Teensy.

UniQue, It is strange. I never knew anyone with breast cancer before my Mother. Afterwards, it seemed like everyone I was close to had someone diagnosed with it. And here it is again. The first time I mention it and you were affected by it to. Mom's original doctor wanted to do a radical, but I convinced her to come to UAB in B'ham for a second opinion. It is a wonderful hospital and on the cutting edge. She ended up only having a partial and some lumps removed. She was very sick from the Chemo and lost all her hair. The drugs she had to take ,and continues to, caused her to gain weight. My Mom is a very beautiful woman, still, but it damaged an already low self esteem. I work on her everyday. Her hair has grown in nicely and I stay on her about exercise. She wanted to give up after the first treatment, but I used her old tactics and guilted her into not (one day my Teensy will do the same). I asked if she wanted to see her grandson (then 11) get married and Teensy (newborn) go to her prom. Worked like a charm. She was mad, but knew I was right. It is strange how the child has to be the Mom sometimes. She is more than that though. She is my best friend and I am a fighter. I would not let her go down without one. Three years later and 3 checkups great, it makes it worthwhile. The bond between her and Teensy is actually making me cry right now. Oops, better quit while I am ahead. Just keep regular checkups, because I am sure you know, we have an 50% increased chance of getting it.

BTW, How is your Mom?

Sincerely,
Traci

Traci,

Good for you for having the good sense to keep after your Mom. My mom is doing fantastic! She's now 77 years old and stays fairly healthy most of the year. She looks younger at 77 than her sister who is 11 years younger.

I love that photo. We have to start our kids early on the love of plants.

I have plenty of coleus to share also and would be happy to send you some cuttings. Just send me a dmail with your address and I'll get them in the mail this week.

Here's Mom with my hubby at Easter, 2006.

Janet

Loved the article by Joyce on Coleus.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/125/

Jada, I posted my pic. Took the plunge first. Where's yours? Thanks for the compliments on Teensy. As I have nothing to share but an addiction, I figured she could be my sun coleus for now. I am going to let her attempt her own little garden this spring and it too will include coleus. It's funny you say that about her reminding you of an actress. I have gotten that my whole life, but no one has ever been able to pinpoint who.

Teensy got her nickname when she was born. She has always been tiny. The pics are deceiving. The little skirt she is wearing is for 6-9 months old and was taken today. But don't let her size fool you. She definitely has small dog syndrome...hummm....I wonder if she got that from me?

Traci, first I didn't get cuttings packed for you yesterday, but I see many more are falling in to help you. I just went through the usual day before starting a new job angst and please forgive.
For those of you that don't know I usually have to drive 400+miles to do my Boiler repair/construction work.
I drove out to the job yesterday. Only 8 miles.
;)

YIPPEE, SUGAR.,,,, This will be a whole new life for you, What did your baby say when you left him home. I can hear Henry now. WAIT FOR ME, MOM!!!!

Sugarweed, don't worry about it. I know about these crazy scedules. I have been up two nights in a row writing estimates. I am killing myself. Maybe coleus therapy would help. Do they have any natural healing properties?

I am very curious, as I was raised in the construction industry, what did/do you do? I am making a couple of assumptions here. You are a female right? And you worked in the boiler repair/construction industry? If so, boy, could we swap some stories. I am the only girl in 4 generations before Teensy came along. My Father owns a construction company and didn't know what to do with me, so in the ditches (trenches) I went. Interesting life.

Don't rush on the plants. Get your life back in order before worrying about someone else's. Not like I am losing any sleep over it. lol.

Congrats on the shortened drive,
Traci

Waving to all
Our office moved this week end and I am unpacked finally.

All my coleus are still intact after 4 days of me being on the coast. Hope they will stay and I can keep them and cuttings over the winter.

((hugs))) to all and wish everyone could make it to our Round up this week end.

Lavina who is still waiting on new computer to arrive from Dell so she can post pictures.

Morning Folks!

It's been one rainy week for us around here. I haven't had to water the plants since last Tuesday! YEAH!!! We haven't mowed the yard yet since we got back from Georgia either. :-( It's pretty high and still very wet. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to leave the bag off the mower this time and leave the grass for mulch.

Thought I'd share some photos I took this morning.

This is my front coleus bed. This photo is a before and after shot from July 30th to this morning. It's amazing how much these plants have grown.

As you can see, everything has gone bezerk! We left here on Wednesday morning with instructions for Hillary and Andrew to watch the weather, and if it didn't rain at all, to water in the evening. They didn't have to water even once.

I came home expecting to find dead plants, and instead found hundreds of flowers all over my coleus. I forgot to give Hillary instructions to pinch their little heads off! HAHAHAHA

You can just barely see the "broken planter" that I filled with coleus cuttings.

I've pinched as many as I can reach on this one back by the fence. It's one of my favorites out front. I just love the colors in this one. Anyone have any idea what it's name it?

I love the combination of the coleus and the portulaca. The little flowers on the portulaca close up each evening and the burst open with joy as soon as the sun comes out.

Janet

Janet

Everything looks lovely! They have grown beautifully under your care. I see my favorite, Watermelon. peeking out in there. The tip cutting you sent me has branched out a little and I'm still babying it in a pot. I needed to see it every day on my patio so I never put her in the garden...maybe next year:-)

Joyce

Janet you have the touch. LOL
You almost lost the statue.

Thank you Joyce and Ted. Joyce, the cuttings you are seeing are cuttings from the ones you sent to me. The "mother" plants are in the back yard and are doing wonderful. They've gotten so tall and their colors are so beautiful! That Watermelon is definitely one of my favorites too. I have taken many cuttings from it this year (both to share and to keep for myself) and just love the deep rich red in that one.

Ted, you are right. That statue that I rescued from Home Depot has just about been outgrown from that spot. It's time to find her a new home.

Every couple of days a big beautiful exotic hibiscus bloom opens up in the midst of all of those colorful leaves. My new coleus bed makes me smile every time I drive up to the house. I was pleasantly surprised that the ones in the ground NEVER droop, even in the blazing 100 degree weather we've had most of the summer. The ones in pots, on the other hand, some of them really look sad by about 2-3:00 in the afternoon. Next year, I will put more and more of them into the ground.

I think I may have made a bad mistake. I took some broken pieces of Perilla and put them on the inside of that fence, next to the front porch. Once we'd put the mulch down, that brown "barky" look just drove me crazy right there next to the porch, though being cedar, I love the smell. I have a feeling that if these cuttings get as big as their mama, well, I'll be wading through the perilla to get to the water hose! HAHAHAHA

Janet

Janet,
your photos are overwhelmingly beautiful. I needed to see them, thank you so much. I needed to see colorful coleus because my garden is a disaster now. We've had almost frost for 4 nights and yesterday we had thunderrain and a severe hail storm, so most of my coleus are more or less dead, TWO months before they normally do..... I have no tears left..... Luckily, I have taken cuttings of most of them for overwintering, so the catastrophe isn't total.

Sad also because normally September is my favourite coleus month, they are always so tall and bushy then, at their very best. But now they are already converted into dead, black spikes.... Good to see yours being so healthy, I need colors!!!
Alice

This message was edited Sep 4, 2007 5:13 PM

Oh Alice :-(

I'm so sorry! Good thing you had the foresight to take those cuttings last week!
We cant do much about changing the weather but dont let it get you down. Theres always next year and maybe you can put in some type of greenhouse by then.

Thats what I'm saving my pennies for. Hopefully by next year I will have a tropical home for my coleus and wont have to worry so much about the weather. Its been a bad season for coleus this year here too. Wish you lived closer, I'd share all of mine with you :-))

Joyce

Well, in from my first day at work. Spent the first half hiring-in and the second half on the back-end of a 4" grinder. My boss brought me a "Harley" with a 7" rock on it. It was heavy to manuever. I have many seams to grind.
I am going to keep a diary of this job.
Well it was 92º when I got off. The humidity was lower though, (60%).
I was not sweating and borderline ss, so I spent alot of time going to the porta john and drinking water. I already put a big umbrella in the car to shade me tomorrow.
I bet I sleep good. Going to try to stay up until at least 9.
Loving all the pictures.
Sidney

I think UniQue swapped the fence and the statue for a smaller version. Good one. I really cannot believe how fast they grow. Here's my good news....Babies are here! This is the first set. Now what do I do with them? Didn't think that far ahead. Just need Coleus!! The seller stated germination instructions would be on package. It is, SIMPLIFIED. It says, and I qoute, "Press seeds into soil-do not cover. Bottom water to keep moist. Germ 10-20 days." What? Are you kidding me? When do you sow? Do they like light or dark germ.? What temp do you sow at? really upset about this. Research tonight, I believe.

For those who don't know or those who don't remember (if I am losing my mind, I refuse to go alone) I got my first plant ever this year. Now look at pic and tell me, have I lost my mind?

Insane in the Membrane,
Traci

P.S. 20 more packs, tulips, buttercups, and crocus are on the way. I think I bit off a LOT more than I can chew. Compulsive nature comes as a Coleus addict, nes pas?

I will be speaking in Latin for the next ten months as I try to learn these plant. I know above was French, but it made me think about it. Semper Fi. I believe Coleus is latin also. "co" translates into go and "leus" translates into buy.

I've never started coleus from seeds, so someone else will have to answer your questions about germinating, etc. I will say this. Do yourself a favor and DON'T LOSE THOSE BAGS! It's really nice that your seed packages have photos so you know what to look for. Keep them with the seedlings if you plan on remembering their names. Tape them to the pot if you have to.

I seem to remember reading something about seeds not being true to the parents, or something along those lines. I'm sure our coleus experts that reside on this thread will correct me if I'm wrong about that. These folks know their stuff! I would have thought that the plants grown from seed would be TRUE. I learn something new here on Dave's on a daily basis. Some things I retain and others I file on the "hard drive" of my feeble brain and hope to recall the info when I need it! Some times I even remember to bookmark things as favorites. HAHAHA

Has anyone heard from Dale? I think about him often and hope he's OK. He's in my prayers.

Sidney, I'm so glad that you are working close to home. I am a wimp when it comes to driving and need a nap to take a 20 minutes drive. I cannot imagine driving 400 miles to work! I hope this job gives you much satisfaction and happiness!

Alice, I am so sorry to hear about your plants and terrible weather. I'm glad you were able to get cuttings of them. If you need more in the Spring, just let us all know. I'm sure between all of us here, we can send you some color! :-) I'll be happy to do whatever is necessary for customs, etc. You'll have to educate me about it though.

Here's one of the exotic hibiscus blooms (not today's photo). It's called Rum Runner Hibiscus. It starts out really deep rose "tequila sunrise" in the early morning. By noon it's a dreamy orange, looking different each time it's viewed. It gets really light in the evening and then closes up with a bow after it's fine performance.

Janet

Thank you all for the sympathy, you are so kind. I will of course take your kindness seriously and try to get some exciting new cuttings from you in spring, thank you so much!

Some of the coleus close to the house walls are in better shape, so I still have a few to look at, even if they are not doing well at all.

Today it's hot and sunshine - but I refuse to go outdoors! I'm soooooo angry about the Universe today for destroying my coleus candies, therefore I have a one-day self-procalimed "sit down-strike" in protest against the nasty weather gods. So, to all Weather gods, can you hear me??? I'm not going OUT!!!!
I hope this strike will help! LOL

Janet, I have looked at your question on
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=3936150

maybe it's Kingswood Torch (one of my favourites):

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/71000/

What do you think?
Alice

Alice,

I do believe your middle name must be Defiance! HAHAHAHA

I have Kingswood Torch (which Dale ID'ed for me) and this could be a cutting. But after scrolling through the coleus in the plantfiles, I think it looks more than likely "Festive Dance" http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/76053/

The colors match and the pattern matches as well.

Mine is in the ground in full sun from about 10 am until evening. The colors are vibrant. This does NOT jive with the comments made about this though. So I'm not positive about it being Festive Dancer.

We were supposed to get 1-3" of rain yesterday. Never happened.

I hope everyone has a beautiful, colorful, and happy day!

Janet

This is the one that Dale ID'ed as Kingswood Torch. same colors but the leaves are MUCH bigger and the Dark is prominent.