Thursday, April 9, 2009

Hot Combo!


Here is a great combo pot of which I have done variations for several years. I always use the coleus 'Burning Bush' and the upright Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bondstedt' with its dark leaves and tubular red flowers. The third coleus is always a compact yellow: 'Defiance', 'Sizzler' or 'Max Levering' (shown) are all good choices. 'Defiance' is beautiful with its shock of red-orange down the middle that echos the colors of its potmates. 'Sizzler' has charming, scalloped leaves that are spattered with droplets of color that were born to work with this grouping. 'Burning Bush' has always been one of my favorite coleus. It has an amazing bright red-orange color when given bright light, and it doesn't get tall and lanky. No matter how many coleus I may use in a summer you can be sure that 'Burning Bush' will have a prime location!
The other nice feature of this particular combination is that both coleus are compact and have a mounding form that will spill over the sides of the pot when they mature. A bit of pinching to shape the plants is all that will be needed.