COLEUS WIZARD 'FAIRWAY RED VELVET' Solenostemon Scutellarioides

COLEUS WIZARD ‘FAIRWAY RED VELVET’ Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘Fairway Red Velvet’

Characteristics  Type: Annual  Sun: Shade  Zone: 10 to 11  Water: Heavy  Height: 8 Inches  Maintenance: Low  Spread: 10 Inches  Attracts: Hummingbirds, butterflies  Spacing: 6 – 8 Inches  Leaf: Colorful  Bloom Time: Flowers not showy  Tolerate: Heavy Shade  Foliage Description: Deep red

Culture

Deep red leaves on compact, branching plants which never need pinching. Wizard Velvet Red tolerates sun, heat, and humidity unusually well for coleus. Grow in rich, moist soil. Remove flowers as they form to keep foliage visible, healthy and growing. Near the end of the growing season, allow some of the nectar- rich flowers to form. Blooms will attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Wizard series coleus are excellent container plants and can be grown indoors in a brightly lit window. Grow in pots that can be overwintered indoors or as houseplants. Grow in moist, organically rich, loose soils. Fertilize every two weeks.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Wizard ‘Fairway Red Velvet’ is an extra-dwarf, well-branched plant. Plectranthus scutellarioides, commonly known as coleus, is a tropical evergreen tender perennial that has been a popular foliage plant since at least Victorian times. It is native to Southeast Asia and Malaysia. It has been assiduously hybridized over the years into a very large number of vegetatively propagated and seed propagated strains with an almost infinite number of leaf color combinations including most colors of the spectrum except true blue. Four-sided stems are semi-succulent. Showy multi-colored leaves are generally ovate to oblong and toothed. Leaves frequently feature mixtures of colors in irregular patterns.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Watch for aphids, spider mites and whiteflies, particularly on indoor plants. Plants grown in too much sun may wilt. Plants grown in too much shade may become leggy.

Garden Uses

Bright, vivid foliage is ideal for landscaping beds and using in mixed containers. Slow to flower so plants last a long time. Group or mass as garden annuals in beds and borders. Pots, containers, window boxes, hanging baskets. Houseplants.