Coleus

To me, this is the most ordinary of plants - a coleus.  Seems they used to be everywhere.

I remember them at my grandmother's, growing in tin cans.  The colors were all over the board, leaf shapes were varied, too.  And so, I associate them with summer and heat, as if they could only grow in the south. In the summer.

Some more than a few years ago, I found some coleus for sale here at a gardener's and bought three, put them in a big pot and let them grow.  And they did!  What a wonderful display the whole summer.  They were huge and beautiful.

Since then I have looked for them, with little success.  Last fall, I saw a packet of seeds and thought, Hey, I can grow them myself!

Right.  Wrong.  The seeds are smaller than poppy seeds.  I put a bunch of them in soil, watered them, protected them, coddled them.  Maybe eight sprouted.  But only one survived.

This one. But she's really pretty.

The picture is a bit deceptive since the plant is only about 8 inches tall and is only one plant.  One plant, over 6 months old and still pretty small.

But I am so proud of it!!!  We survived all the obstacles and here we are, so showy.

I will try to grow some again next spring, but in the meantime, I know another trick.  You can pinch off a stem, put it in water and it will grow roots.

Sounds like a plan.