Why I Oughta...

Back at the beginning of August, I posted about the front yard Island Bed annuals .  And, talked about how I should have planted more Vinca and was underwhelmed by the coleus.  At that time,  I wrote this : The coleus in this bed have (also) been a disappointment. But, that's for a separate post so I can learn from the experience. The coleus that I have up there is named Wizard Sun Velvet Red Coleus .  Here's the post when I bought them.  And, the description: Compact, mid-sized foliage plant with upright habit is ideal for mixed containers, planters, baskets and landscapes. Easy-care plants are late flowering, extending their landscape value. Emphasis, mine. Compact.  Compact!  That was the 'bug' back earlier this Summer.  Last year, the coleus that I grew were LARGER and fuller.  But, they also swallowed up everything behind them.  The Spring Grove Ginkgo.  The Greenlee Sesleria were nowhere to be seen .   Now....move a...

One of the [garden wins] that I hung on the scoreboard last year was planting coleus as a bedding plant in the garden.  Both in the front yard (island bed) and in the back ( corner patio bed ).  Last year, I planted twelve Versa Gold Coleus as bedding annuals up front in the Island bed and they filled-in and put on a great foliage show all season.  I was pretty good about dead-heading them and pinching off the flowers to keep the growth focused on the foliage.  I put on my 2026 to-do list to use more annuals (again) including coleus and talked about repetition via annuals.  More on that soon.   But, for the Island bed, I picked up sixteen (16) small Wizard Red Velvet Red Coleus plants: Wizard Red Sun Coleus is described by Ball Seed as : Compact, mid-sized foliage plant with upright habit is ideal for mixed containers, planters, baskets and landscapes. Easy-care plants are late flowering, extending their landscape value. These are likely to be a bit ...