Coleus

Year-round

Coleus is a frost-tender foliage plant grown for its brightly patterned leaves; in the Houston area it is typically grown as a warm-season annual or overwintered indoors.

• Give it part shade to filtered sun; hot, direct afternoon sun in Houston summers can bleach or scorch the leaf color.
• Keep the soil consistently moist; coleus wilts quickly in dry soil and does not recover well from prolonged drought stress.
• Pinch off flower spikes to keep the plant bushy and focused on foliage rather than seed production.
• Reported to cause mild vomiting and diarrhea in dogs, cats, and horses if ingested, per the ASPCA, due to essential oils in the foliage.

Regular pinching and a defined container or bed edge keep coleus looking like an intentional accent rather than an overgrown planting.

Fall

Coleus is frost-tender, so plan to bring cuttings or containers indoors before the first freeze.

• Take stem cuttings in early fall to root indoors and carry the plant over winter.
• Watch nighttime lows and move container plants indoors before the first frost.
• In-ground plantings die back at the first freeze and are typically treated as annuals.

Winter

Outdoors in the Houston area coleus does not survive freezing temperatures and is grown as an annual unless overwintered indoors.

• Keep any overwintered cuttings in a bright indoor spot away from cold drafts.
• Remove frost-killed outdoor plants once they have died back rather than leaving them in the bed.
• Hold off on replanting outdoors until soil and night temperatures warm again in spring.

Clearing frost-killed foliage promptly keeps beds looking tended through winter.

Spring

Wait until nights stay reliably warm before planting coleus outdoors in the Houston area, usually mid-to-late spring.

• Set out transplants after the last frost date and once nighttime lows are consistently warm.
• Start in part shade; too much spring sun on young transplants can stunt growth.
• Feed lightly at planting to support fast early growth.

Summer

Summer is peak growing season, and consistent moisture with some afternoon shade keep leaf color from fading in Houston's heat.

• Water often, especially in containers, since coleus dries out quickly in summer heat.
• Give it afternoon shade to protect leaf colors from bleaching in full sun.
• Pinch growing tips regularly to keep plants full and compact.