This week I was walking in one of the old stone alleys in my neighborhood, and a slightly neglected one at that, and came across this stunning garden bed with Coleus, wow! It is positioned perfectly to detract from the electric box, and I guess there was a hole of some kind in the ground that called out to be a garden bed filled with shade loving plants, and look how happy those plants are! Part of the success of this grouping is that there are four different kinds of leafy plants with 4 drastically different sizes, something to keep in mind friends and I certainly will, as this combo is so very very pleasing to the eye! The largest leaves are elephant's ear, a personal favorite, then the coleus, then a smallish plant that I can't identify, and then a tiny ground cover/wandering Jew of sorts. Depending on what kind of winter we'll have this year, I doubt that the coleus can survive, so I hope the gardener will take cutting and make new plants indoors to re-plant here in the spring. The elephant's ear won't survive snow or prolonged frost either, but it is somewhat hardy, as I've seen it in another nearby container garden and it appears to be surviving from year to year. Okay, lets take another look.....
These photos are making me want to run out and buy some of these.......though truthfully I have enough plants! Then again elephants ear grows from a tuber, and I think you can divide it, so it is a great plant to have that keeps on giving. And of course the coleus also makes a great houseplant and is perfect for taking cuttings that root easily.
I just realized that I ought to try and do a painting of this, and remind myself of this wonderful combo some spring!
