Coleus, Pink Frangipani and Costus

This is the fifth variety of coleus that I have in my Kuching garden right now. Coleus plants with its very colourful leaves are a respite to the evergreeness of our tropical gardens and I think they are a must to be planted . Other species that can give the masses of colour to our Kambatik garden are like the caladium, cordyline, psederanthemum, irisine, pisonia and mussaenda among a few.

Arrangement # 125

Here three varieties of the coleus ( solenostemon scutellarioides ) are placed inside a glass vase which is hidden by the mini 'tambuk' . The red terminal bracts of the costus woodsonii are added in to add variety. Finally I add perfumery to the display by throwing in the flowers of the pink frangipani ( plumeria rubra).
Surprised at the rich variety of colours I name the composition....Magic Colours.

Colourful Coleus leaves and Jasmine flowers

Arrangement # 124

My Kuching garden is slowly shaping up. Before we left for Bintulu last October, I had planted four varieties of the coleus ( Solenostemon scutellarioides ) which I bought from the Satok Sunday market. I noticed they are in their best looks today. Among the Malays the plant is called 'Bunga Ati-Ati'. They plant them for their multi-coloured variegated leaves more than for its flowers. They have 4-angled stems with small flowers and toothed edges. Planted in pots they are beautiful decorative plants for official functions. Coleus are native to this region ( South East Asia). Now you are likely to see more varieties appearing at the market place due to the fact that this plant is a favourite among hybriders who constantly try to produce new cultivars.

The coleus I chose above has dark maroon and red colours. Then to add contrast I plucked three flowering stems of the white jasmine flowers (jasminum multiflorum) .

Finally I like to name the above composition as ....Coleus in Contrast