How to Plant and Grow Edged-Leaf Coleus (Sun-Loving)

Sun-loving coleus with contrasting-edge leaf margins are easy-to-grow annual foliage plants. The distinctive patterns formed by the leaf margins make these plants stand out in the garden. You can plant them in container gardens or landscape beds where plants will combine with flowering annuals and perennials to brighten the display.

Varieties of Coleus

Copper Glow Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Copper Glow') has burnt orange to coppery leaves with a narrow band of gold around the scalloped leaf margins. It grows 10 to 20 inches tall.

Gnash Rambler Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Gnash Rambler') combines deep purple centers with raspberry-red leaf edges. The lobed leaves are often curled or puckered. It grows 18 inches tall, but often spreads more than two feet wide.

Grace Ann Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Grace Ann') develops elongated leaves with claret, pink, and salmon centers and similar colored "freckles" scattered in a broad band of medium green. It grows 18 inches tall.

Inky Fingers Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Inky Fingers') has purple-black leaves with green edges. It is a duckfoot type with deeply lobed foliage and a mounding plant form up to two feet tall.

JoDonna Coleus

(Solenostemon 'JoDonna') glows with its combination of burgundy foliage with lime-green margins and overlay. It grows best in sun or part shade, reaching 24 to 30 inches tall.

Kiwi Fern Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Kiwi Fern') has unusually narrow, deeply lobed leaves that give it a ferny appearance. Leaves are burgundy and red with a narrow band of gold around the edge. It grows 18 inches tall.

Kiwi Fruit Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Kiwi Fruit') develops deeply lobed, chocolaty purple leaves with green edges. In full sun, its leaf color may become redder. It grows three feet tall.

Mississippi Summer Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Mississippi Summer') thrives in heat and humidity typical of Southern summers. It grows well in full sun but also tolerates shade. The maroon leaves with rosy edges become more uniformly deep red in shade. It grows three feet tall.

Oxblood Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Oxblood') has deep maroon leaves with a yellow-green edge. In full sun the leaves become more uniformly maroon. It grows 18 inches tall.

Pink Chaos Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Pink Chaos') provides a wild combination of colors on distorted lobed leaves. Each leaf has a central swath of bright pink surrounded by bronze, cream, and green. It grows 18 inches tall.

Plum Parfait Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Plum Parfait') provides foliage with plum centers and pink edges on plants that grow three feet tall. This variety is especially well-adapted to the heat.

Red Ulrich Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Red Ulrich') has a purple central medallion surrounded by a band of red and a narrow edge of green. As leaves age or as light intensity diminishes, the green edge becomes more pronounced. It has a narrow, upright growth habit reaching two feet tall.

Religious Radish Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Religious Radish') is a vigorous grower reaching 42 inches tall. It has a deep purple central shield surrounded by a band of pinkish red.

Rustic Orange Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Rustic Orange') displays salmon to rusty-orange leaves with yellow edges. It grows 20 inches tall.

Saturn Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Saturn') has deep burgundy leaves with a thin yellow green edge and matching center. The maroon band is often flecked with yellow green "moons." It grows 18 inches tall.

Texas Parking Lot Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Texas Parking Lot') is a vigorous grower with multiple personalities. It is also known as 'Alabama Sunset', 'Alabama Sun', 'Bellingrath Pink', and 'Coppertone'. Part of the confusion comes from its changeable coloration, which ranges from coppery red to pink and gold depending on time of year and amount of sun it receives. It grows three feet tall.

Tilt-a-Whirl Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Tilt-a-Whirl') has maroon-and-red toothed leaves which appear to swirl around a central stem. Each leaf has chartreuse veins and narrow yellow green edge. It grows 18 inches tall.

Versa Crimson Gold Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Versa Crimson Gold') produces crimson-maroon leaves with a band of gold around the edge. Adapted equally well to sun or shade, it grows 32 inches tall.

Versa Green Halo Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Versa Green Halo') develops highly textured leaves with a creamy yellow center surrounded by a broad green band. It grows 32 inches tall.

Wild Lime Coleus

(Solenostemon 'Wild Lime') displays ruffled lime green and gold leaves on plants 20 inches tall. The leaves are more yellow in full sun. They become greener in the shade.