330 FRITZ BAHR'S COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



"Of all the stock we grow under glass, nothing will grow quicker 

 into a salable plant during Spring than Coleus." That remark was 

 made about thirty years ago by the late Peter Henderson and is 

 true today. Only, at that period Coleus ranked almost second to 

 Geraniums in importance as bedders, and three to four weeks from 

 the time the cutting was put into the sand the plant was ready in 

 a 2-in. pot for bedding out. You can still practice this method 

 today, if you have enough stock plants to take good sized cuttings 

 from and use enough bottom heat and a 55- to 60-deg. house to grow 

 them in. 



For propagating purposes, root cuttings in August, grow the 

 plants on in pots and shift into 4s by October; overwinter them in 

 a 55-deg. house, pinch them back several times and by February 

 those stock plants will furnish you and keep on furnishing you with 

 great quantities of cuttings from which, later on, you can again 

 start propagating. 



VARIETIES OF COLEUS USED TODAY 



For hanging baskets and window boxes the pink and yellow 

 Trailing Queen are used quite extensively; if in a sunny position 

 and not starved they are very effective. Golden Queen and Ver- 

 schaffeltii are the best when you want yellow and red effects for 

 bedding. Christmas Gem, Queen Victoria and American Beauty 

 when well grown in 5- or 6-in. pots can be used to advantage for 

 Christmas, for which purpose cuttings should be rooted in early 

 August and the plants kept shifted and pinched up to the end of 

 October. The good sorts for both bedding and pot culture 

 are: Butterfly, Lord Palmerton, Beckwith's Gem, Salvator, Fire- 

 brand, Pink Verschaffeltii, Defiance, and May Laver, but these are 

 only a few of many others. 



Fig. 135. AN EFFECTIVE COLEUS BED. As long as bedding plants are used, there 

 will always be a place for Coleus. No other class of plant furnishes a greater variety 

 of gorgeous foliage colors or is better adapted for bedding 



