"Coleus" plants in the beds on Buena Vista
 

I have seen several of the beds on Buena Vista and 466 (Glenview area and Walmart area) with new plants that look to be coleus. In the Northeast, we could not plant coleus in the full sun, which all these beds are. What are these plants and where can we buy them?

think there are lots of new varieties of Coleus that can take the sun, even up north. Just check the labels at whatever garden center you are at. Better yet, check on the Florida gardening website. I also like the Grumpy Gardener's weekly blog, and you can search for things on that also. Just google to find the sites.

Those coleus type plants are one of my favorites in the planting beds that never cease to please my eyes. I can't believe the luxury in living in a place where hundreds of roadside beds are changed out about every six weeks for the next group of lovely and coordinated colors of flowers that is the optimum one for blooming in that particular time of the year. They are planted with such precision and spacing and with an eye for height and width and precisely in lines with never a weed. The king who owned the gardens of Versailles didn't have it as good as we do here.

Driving down the roads of my home town and seeing the beautiful flowers, always changing and seeing the pristine streets and looking at the golf carts of every color and hue....I know how lucky I am to be here.

Sun Coleus
 

I don't know where TV get their coleus, but I purchased mine by mail from
Rosy Dawn Gardens Online!. They are specially bred to survive full sun, but there is a downside - because our Florida sun is so intense they don't keep their true color. They may change color in the sun, some of them get scorched, some of them fade out to a pale yellowish color. I purchased mine at the beginning of the planting season and I am not sure whether I would bother with them again. They are expensive and I have one that was supposed to be purple which has grown into a small bush and is brown - not what I wanted.

I know there are several other nurseries growing these sun coleus and the best thing to do is to google (or whatever site you use to search) for "sun coleus" and see what comes up.

I actually purchased two from WalMart which are doing well and also kept their color!!!! Might be worth a try for you this year as we are well into the season.

i love that plant

Coleus Plants
 

I would buy these plants locally, as they are for this area. When you order plants to be shipped here, they may not adapt as well. I have many locally bought coleus plants in part sun, and they do wonderful at this time of year when other plants can't take the heat. Just keep them well watered.

Lovely, Gracie! Couldn't have said it better myself!

Aren't they beautiful? My favorite landscaping for TV. I believe they can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot.