Coleus Giant Exhibition Marble

One of the most colorful and merry of all the splendid Giant Exhibition Coleus varieties, Marble simply dazzles. And if we think these leaves are exciting now, just imagine how they looked to our Victorian forebears when they were first introduced! Marble is a delightful little plant, with a perfectly rounded habit and neat rosettes of serrated leaves. It looks tailor-made for a pot or basket, but also jazzes up the garden in beds, borders, and even as edging! It grows in a snap from seed (wait till you see the tiny scalloped leaves on new seedlings!) and lasts and lasts!

Marble is one of the Giant Exhibition Series, a group of heirloom Coleus re-selected for better vigor, more uniform colors, and neater habit. These Coleus were at the heart of the "Coleus craze" that swept England around the turn of the last century -- they were grown and adored by all, their brilliantly-colored leaves offering unheard-of winter color indoors. Well, things haven't changed much -- these gorgeously-sculpted 6- to 7-inch-long, 4-inch-wide leaves still make hearts flutter and gardens glow!

If you like Marble, you might want to get the entire mix of 11 varieties. Plants this good are hard to come by, and since you can start the seeds indoors any time of year, the more the merrier!

In the partly to fully shaded garden, Marble is a zinger of a color beside the airy plumes of Astilbe and the frost-dusted Impatiens Shady Lady Blushing Beauties. In part shade, it complements the mahogany foliage of perennial Heuchera.

Coleus germinates readily and grows eagerly. For bushier, fuller plants, keep the growing tips pinched. To extend the lush color into fall, remove any stray flower spikes that emerge -- they take energy away from maintaining the gorgeous foliage, and the flowers are insignificant. If growing in the garden, sow about 12 inches apart. If growing indoors for houseplants, sow at any time, placing the young plants in a well-lit window. Pkt is 20 seeds.