Product Description

Coleus are no longer your grandmother's parlor plants. Favourites during the Victorian era, these plants have made a dramatic comeback with a dazzling variety of leaf color, shape, and pattern. No other plant is so easy to grow and propagate. Their sumptuous colors and tough constitution make coleus ideal both as attention-getting focal points and as complements to other foliage or flowering plants. In this lavishly illustrated volume, expert plantsman Ray Rogers offers equal parts of design inspiration and practical advice. The heart of this book is an encyclopedia that describes and evaluates more than 225 varieties.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #454182 in Books
• Published on: 2008-02-02
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.89 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 228 pages

Review
Traces the history of a single plant since its formal discovery. The book includes 385 brilliant color photographs. (Washington Post )

Paging through the new book, Coleus, is like looking at a fine-art catalog or an old book of fabulous wallpaper prints. (Seattle Times )

Coleus can turn even a curmudgeonly coleophobe into an ardent admirer as Rogers enumerates their many benefits. The stunning color photographs by Richard Hartlage add even more credence to the claim that coleus have their place in almost any garden setting. (San Diego Union-Tribune )

"The most comprehensive work ever written on coleus." (West Hawaii Today )

Any coleus lover will find it enjoyable and educational. (Garden Compass )

This is a wonderful book for any gardener. The coleus is truly a versatile plant, but also an essential plant for every gardener. (Portsmouth Herald )

From the Inside Flap
Coleus are no longer your grandmother's parlor plants. Favorites during the Victorian period, they have made a dramatic comeback. It's easy to see why: no other plant offers such a dazzling variety of leaf colors, shapes, and patterns, and no other plant is so easy to grow and propagate. Given a modicum of care, coleus will flourish from spring until frost. Although older varieties performed best in shady situations, newer ones have been selected for sun tolerance, making it possible to grow coleus in every part of the garden. With their sumptuous colors and tough constitution, coleus are ideal both as attention-getting focal points and as complements to other foliage or flowering plants. As happy in a container as in open ground, they are the ultimate in versatility, their uses as unlimited as your imagination. Whether you're a weekend gardener in search of easy, reliable color, or an enthusiast who wants to collect every colues available, this exciting and comprehensive resource will give you exactly what you're looking forand more. Expert plantsman Ray Rogers offers equal parts inspiration and practical advice, with history, plant characteristics, problem solving, propagation, and designing with coleus in both containers and in the garden, all brought to life by Richard Hartlage's masterful photographs. An encyclopedia covers more than 225 varieties.

About the Author
Ray Rogers has won 397 blue ribbons and 88 top awards (including 5 Best in Show) for container-grown plants at the Philadelphia International Flower Show. After a career in public horticulture with the Morris Arboretum and the American Horticultural Society, he turned to garden writing, speaking, and editing. He is the author of Coleus and Pots in the Garden and the editor of several major gardening titles published by Dorling Kindersley. He holds a master's degree in horticulture and is an avid hybridizer of Hippeastrum, better known as amaryllis. Visit him at www.showplants.net.