Coleus blumei, 'Chocolate Covered Cherry'

Grown as a flamboyant bedding plant or conservatory houseplant, Coleus (recently renamed Solenostemon) comes in a multitude of forms and colours, with dramatic foliage ranging from bright reds, yellows, greens, bronzes, pinks and browns. This ornamental member of the mint family is native to Indonesia and is therefore tender. Although many species are technically perennials, they are typically grown as annuals.

For decades coleus was prized for vibrant bedding patterns, but relatively recently seed breeders have turned their focus to full-sun performance. The Premium Sun series represents a breakthrough, producing cultivars that are just as reliable in strong light as in shade. They combine the dazzling foliage coleus is known for with the toughness of modern bedding plants, making them as dependable as impatiens or begonias, but with far more drama in the leaf.

‘Chocolate Covered Cherry’ is one of the prettiest introductions in the series. Its velvety leaves are painted with a rich cocoa-brown centre flushed with glowing cherry red, each one trimmed in a bright green margin that sets the whole plant alight. Compact and tidy, it quickly forms a neat, mounded clump, with foliage so striking it needs no flowers to steal the show.
This Premium Sun variety reaches around 30 to 45cm (12 to 18in) high and 25 to 30cm (10 to 12in) wide, an excellent size for containers, baskets, or the middle of a border. They show their colours and perform at their best in a position of full sun, and are remarkably heat and drought tolerant once established. Used en masse they create bold carpets of colour, while a single plant in a pot is enough to provide season-long interest on a terrace or porch.

Grow in moist but well-drained soil, ideally in full sun or light shade, in a sheltered spot. Very easy from seed, they grow quickly into well-branched, bushy plants that are perfect for indoor or outdoor containers as well as garden beds. Insignificant whorls of pale blue flowers may appear, but are usually pinched away to keep the foliage at its best. Plant out after the last frost, or overwinter indoors in a conservatory if desired. From the moment seedlings emerge, each one shows its permanent colouring, tiny leaves already patterned in their jewel tones.

Sowing: Sow all year round or in late spring for outdoor plants
Sow all year round for pot plant . For the garden, sow 10 to 12 weeks before the last expected frost , they will then be well developed when it is time to plant them outdoors.
Sow seeds onto a layer of moistened, sterile potting soil in a shallow tray, do not cover as they need light to germinate. Cover with glass or plastic to retain moisture, until the seeds have germinated. Place in a warm (21°C/ 0°F), bright (not full sun) place.
When the seedlings are large enough to handle, transplant into individual pots. Seedlings should always be held by a leaf, never by the stem.
When pricking out coleuses note that larger and stronger plants often have poorer quality foliage. When all danger of frost is past the plants may be set out in the garden. Plant 30cm (12in) apart in rich, moist, well-drained soil

Cultivation:
Fertilise with a diluted (50% mix) liquid fertiliser, too much feeding with high nitrogen fertilisers, encourages soft growth and poorer quality foliage.
Pinch the centre stems out when the plants are 4 to 6 inches tall to induce bushier growth, and be sure to pick off the flower spikes as they form. For a bushy plant Continue to pinch out new shoots. Coleus is very durable, so you can cut your plant back severely if needed (almost back to the soil level).
Coleus should be kept at a 15-20°C (60-70°F) over winter. They will survive down to 10°C (50°F) but only if kept dry. Losses to rot and fungal diseases are high if the plants are allowed to get cold and damp.

Plant Uses:
Best in pots as house plants, or in the warmer conservatory, coleus can also be grown in containers or window boxes alongside other temporary summer planting. They can also look good bedded out with salvias, rudbeckias, gaillardias and other late-summer flowers in the red-yellow end of the spectrum in warm borders.

Other Uses:
The roots of coleus are known from ancient times, where it served as a stand in for Salvia divinorum, in shamanistic rituals. Not much research has been done on the psychoactive chemicals within the plant. The effects resemble those of psilocybin, which is found in psilocybian mushrooms.

History:
Two species were in cultivation here by the 1860s, C. verschaftelti and C. blumei, and the first coloured-leaf variety appeared at a Royal Horticultural Society show in June 1861, introduced by William Bull, a nurseryman of King's Road, Chelsea. Seven years later the RHS organised a promotional auction of new hybrids. One plant fetched 59 guineas, expensive now, but in those days was an enormous sum.
Meanwhile Bull had bred about 150 varieties, of which he was marketing the best 18, cannily timing new releases to coincide with mentions of the plant in the gardening press. The breeding and propagation of sports was so frenetic that Gardener's Chronicle of 1869 dubbed it "coleus fever". Varieties have changed little since then and we're still working with essentially Victorian material.

Nomenclature:
Several years ago, the powers that be changed the name to Solenostemon scutellarioides but in a blatant act of taxonomic defiance, we refuse to call them anything but Coleus.