Whether you already love coleus or think you can’t stand it, take a look at these. Our coleus collection for this year includes several coleus with softer, more subtle colors such as creamy yellow. It is easy to create a colorful container planting by choosing one or two of these multi-colored coleus and then looking for annuals, perennials, and grasses that match or coordinate with the various colors. I actually did this for the first time last spring and it worked out really well, helping to turn me into a confirmed coleus fan. All of these cultivars are fine in sun or shade.

Dr. Wu grows 12-24″ tall with leaves of scalloped gold with green centers. The stems and the backs of the leaves are a rose color — see how much fun it would be to find matching companions for this one?

Colleen is a beautifully variegated plant that almost doesn’t look like a coleus. Just 12-24″ tall, it is a soft green and gold with a small rosy-burgundy area near each stem.

Glennis is somewhat similar to ‘Colleen’ in coloration, but the colors are arranged differently, its pale golden heart becoming pink with green, purple and red only towards the edges. Sun will deepen the darker colors.

Freckles is a creamy yellow with bronze and orange splotches, very close to the popular ‘Sedona’ in its leaf shape and size, as well as the color of its splotches. I am guessing that the two would look good together.

Lemon Sensation has bright gold-chartreuse leaves that are so deeply and intricately scalloped they look lacey, each scallop outlined with red just to make sure you notice.

Twist and Twirl was one of my two favorite coleus I tried in my garden last summer. It is larger, 24-30″, and its twisty leaves are cheerfully splashed with burgundy, green, red and yellow.

Felix was my other favorite. It is a velvety eggplant purple with its sharply scalloped edges just barely edged in chartreuse. 18-36″

Royal Glissade is a somewhat odd coleus whose photo and description both fail to capture its unique loveliness. But there is a good reason why it keeps being shown in magazines and on TV. Here’s what the grower has to say about ‘Royal Glissade’: “With a base coat of the deepest red-orange like ‘Sedona’, the leaf is then saturated with overtones of a golden yellow like someone overdid the sponge painting, but in a good way. Edge of leaf and underside is red-orange also.” I guess you’ll have to see it in person!

In total contrast to all of these coleus varieties, Big Red Judy is a screaming 36″ red dappled with golden orange on its large leaves. Very much not subtle. The grower comments, “This mama could stop traffic.” It is best in full sun, vigorous, and has great heat and humidity tolerance.

Other new coleus for 2008: Beauty of Lyon, Merlot, Quack, Frilly Milly and Witch Doctor.