Brigitte's wondrous Coleus plants! She began tending this tropical perennial last year; it was rather pretty then, too, but this year, the Coleus wins our first prize for most colorful and striking. The Coleus thrives in tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, Malaysia, in the Phillipines—and in Detroit? So it seems. Unless it's all to do with Brigitte's green thumb.
The plaque above it is worth a closer look too:
We got around to taking the photos of our glorious Coleus just as summer decided abruptly to depart on a hot and muggy day, ushering in an autumn that occurs only every twenty-years: the harvest moon was full last night. And, as a special bonus, we could see Jupiter immediately beneath it marking the six o'clock spot.
The antecedent to the "wondrous" coleus is, what I now think of as a petty theft I committed about 10 years ago in Birmingham, MI. We were enjoying a walk thru the busisness district of this Detroit suburb when coming across a glorious coleus planter by the door of a gift shop.... Being a plant lover, I could not resist the impulse to break off a few "cuttings" for my dining room vase. The leaves looked lovely and remained fresh looking for more than 3 weeks. I then discovered that the coleus stems had sprouted root tendrils. I decided to plant them in dirt to see what would happen... Well, the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 9 years or so I have taken assorted cuttings each fall and placed them in water for the winter. Come spring I plant the rooted stems in large pots outdoors where they soon grow into stunning displays of color all summer long.
I still feel a twinge of guilt when thinking about my plant compulsions...but, the plants don't seem to mind.
Oh, those are amazing. And I am so happy to have some "cuttings" from your lushous crop here on the lake. Ours aren't looking that good right now but I will take some snippings and do as you've instructed, with hopes of a lovely new crop next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd, feel no guilt about having barrowed a few stems. These plants clearly want to spread! Now, when it comes to salt shakers... that's another matter.
Oh, and I like that new plaque too!
ReplyDeleteThat garden sign is very old, has been there forever, but it is such a quiet, silent sort of sign it's easily overlooked...
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