Find the top coleus varieties with bold colors and patterns. Great for shady gardens, pots, or adding charm to your yard.
Not sure which coleus to plant? With over 300 species and more than 1500 varieties, it can be tough to choose the right one! In this article, you can see some of the best types of coleus plants. Coleus can be a challenge for botanists because the species keeps changing, and their names are often updated as scientists discover new details. But that’s their job to figure out! For gardeners, there are about 300 species of coleus and over 1500 different varieties to choose from.
Best Coleus Varieties
1. Henna
Henna is a unique type of coleus that doesn’t look like your typical one, such as the Wizard variety. It has small, jagged leaves that look a bit like shiso leaves. The leaves are bright yellow-green with tips that range from pink to dark red, and the undersides are pink or burgundy too. The more sun it gets, the stronger the pink and red colors become. Henna adds a touch of fall color to your garden in the summer. Try planting it with pink petunias or calibrachoa to make the pink in its leaves pop.
2. Burgundy Wedding Train
Burgundy Wedding Train is a low-growing coleus that can trail from pots or spread along the ground in a garden. It has small, wide, heart-shaped leaves that are burgundy in the center with green edges. It looks lovely crawling through a rock garden or hanging over the sides of a container. The heart-shaped leaves are tiny and very pretty.
3. Rustic Orange
Rustic Orange is a classic coleus with slightly pointed leaves. The leaves are a rich rusty orange-red color with a bright golden edge. It looks great with deep purple flowers like Royal Velvet petunias or with purple fountain grass. This plant brings a warm, autumn feel to your garden, even in summer.
4. Chocolate Covered Cherry
Its leaves have bright magenta centers that fade into dark burgundy edges, with a thin line of bright green around the outside.
If it gets less light, the green edge will grow wider. This coleus looks amazing next to chartreuse plants. Try planting it with lysimachia (creeping Jenny)—the pink and green will really stand out.
5. Freckles
Freckles is a fun and colorful coleus that’s hard to describe—it might be a reddish-orange leaf with chartreuse spots, or a chartreuse leaf with reddish-orange freckles. Either way, it really stands out. In full sun, the reddish-orange shows up more. In shade, it looks more chartreuse. Freckles look great in mixed containers. Try adding yellow calibrachoa or cordyline dracaena to bring out the freckled look.
6. China Rose
China Rose is a popular type of coleus and often shows up on Instagram because it’s so eye-catching. It has jagged burgundy leaves with a bright fuchsia pink center. Many people grow it as a houseplant. When I think of coleus, this is the one that comes to mind first. It looks great in pots with green or chartreuse plants and white flowers. It also works well in garden beds to add a splash of color among all the green.
7. Electric Lime
This is a popular upright coleus with medium green leaves and bright yellow veins. It’s loved for how versatile it is. The green color makes it a great background plant, while the yellow veins add extra interest. You can use it as a filler in pots or plant it directly in the garden.
8. French Quarter
French Quarter coleus has a classic color mix. It has large leaves with a bright magenta center that spreads into a chartreuse edge.
To highlight the magenta center, plant it with magenta calibrachoa or petunias. To emphasize the chartreuse edges, add Lysimachia (creeping Jenny) around the pot. It looks great on its own in a pot or planted in groups in the garden.
9. Wasabi
As the name suggests, this coleus is a bright wasabi green. Its leaves are a solid,vivid green with rough, fringed edges, similar to a shiso leaf. It’s great for adding brightness to shady spots in the garden. It looks amazing next to a solid red coleus—the bold colors really pop. Plus, Wasabi has a soft, unique texture that makes it even more interesting.
10. Watermelon
Watermelon is a big, bushy coleus with small leaves and a rounded shape. Its colors are classic coleus—bright magenta in the center, burgundy in the veins, and green around the edges. It’s great as a filler in pots or can fill a whole container by itself. It also looks full and lush when planted in large groups. The more sun it gets, the more pink and burgundy you’ll see, with less green.
11. Le Freak
The standout feature of Le Freak coleus isn’t its color—though it does have deep red leaves with golden edges. What really makes it special is the shape of its leaves. Each leaf has three lobes, with the middle one longer than the other two. They look a bit like messy or shaggy maple leaves.
12. Vino
Vino is a unique coleus with deep, dark burgundy leaves and a thin green edge. The leaves are slightly pointed. The more sun it gets, the darker the leaves become and the thinner the green edge gets.
It looks amazing next to bright lime green plants, like lime green ipomea, for a bold and colorful contrast.
13. Trusty Rusty
Trusty Rusty has large rust-colored leaves with a golden-yellow edge. It looks great in mixed containers or planted in the ground. Its slightly variegated leaves pair nicely with solid-colored plants like sweet potato vine.
14. Big Red Judy
Big Red Judy is a garden favorite, with large, slightly pointed, jagged leaves in a bold red color. Some coleus types can be hard to find, but Big Red Judy is usually easy to get at garden centers. Her bright red leaves create a strong contrast and look great with many other colors in pots or garden beds.
15. Fishnet Stockings
Fishnet Stockings is a fun and unique coleus. It has bright lime green leaves with deep purple, almost black veins. The more sun it gets, the more dark red will show up too. It looks great on its own in a pot or mixed with other plants. Try pairing it with Sweet Caroline Raven Ipomea to highlight the dark purple veins. For a cool gothic look, mix it with black petunias or pansies.
16. Black Dragon
Black Dragon is a coleus with dark maroon or purple leaves that are deeply ruffled. The center is a lighter maroon, while the edges are a bold, dark burgundy. It looks beautiful next to silvery plants like dusty miller, artemisia, or dichondra. A garden bed with Black Dragon in the back and dusty miller in front would look amazing.
17. El Brighto
El Brighto has long, pointed leaves with wavy edges. Its colors are stunning—it has a dark burgundy center, then green, followed by more burgundy, light pink, and finally bright yellow along the edges. It really looks like a party on a leaf! This coleus is perfect as the main plant in a pot because it grabs all the attention.
18. Dragon Heart
Dragon Heart has bright yellow-green leaves with a slightly pointed shape. In the center, there’s a bold fuchsia color that spreads into burgundy through the veins, then fades to yellow-green. The more sun it gets, the more pink and burgundy you’ll see. In the shade, the leaves stay mostly yellow-green. Dragon Heart looks great on its own in a pot or paired with other pink or yellow-green plants.
19. Campfire
Campfire coleus is a beautiful plant with rust-colored leaves and a rounded shape. It looks great in pots, especially with purple petunias trailing over the edges. You can also plant it in garden borders—place a taller plant like argyranthemum behind it and a short one like lobelia in front.
