Plant This Perennial Coleus With Fiery Foliage & Watch Hummingbirds Flock To Your Yard

You can't go wrong by choosing a coleus. After all, they are a gorgeous plant for a colorful and easy-to-grow garden. However, sometimes, picking the right one for your yard is a much greater challenge. While there are amazing options, if you want something that packs a fiery punch and will bring in hummingbirds, you should look at the Coleus scutellarioides 'Marquee Box Office Bronze.' It can grow in shade or full sun, but can wilt if not given a little protection at the hottest part of the day. The Marquee coleus all tend to grow fairly compact — about 2 feet all around, and the 'Marquee Box Office Bronze' is no exception, growing about 15 inches wide and 24 inches tall.

The leaves of this coleus make for an excellent contrast to the rest of your garden. This cultivar has quite a bit of variety in its coloring, and can be anything from a deep red with green edges to a purple with an orange-bronze undertone. The sometimes fiery leaves fit well against bright green or even dark plants, drawing the eye. Like many other coleus, the 'Marquee Box Office Bronze' tends to bloom near the end of summer, which will bring in all sorts of pollinators to your yard. However, since red is one color to instantly invite more hummingbirds into your garden, and this plant stays a beautiful shade all year long, it will attract these small birds even when they aren't flowering.

Coleus are low maintenance, meaning you can get the beauty without having to work too hard to maintain them, and this cultivar is no different. They are also pretty tolerant and can be grown in yards alongside other plants, in containers, and in baskets. As for their soil, they like moist, but not wet, earth that is loose. Too much water can lead to root rot. These fiery perennials can handle most pH levels and handle urban pollution well, so they grow even in cities if you have a place to set them outside. Coleus, including 'Marquee Box Office Bronze,' is good at attracting hummingbirds, but also works great at keeping animals away like deer. While they don't need much care, they can collect a few pests, such as aphids, that you will want to watch out for.

They are easy to propagate as well from cuttings, so if you want to get a jump on your spring landscape, start propagating coleus in November. That way, you'll already have beautiful plants around when hummingbirds start visiting. Though they are technically perennials, they have a small range, and are only hardy in USDA zones 10 and 11. Outside of that, they tend to act as more of an annual. If you keep these beautiful plants in pots, though, you can grow them all year round by bringing them inside when the temperatures drop regularly below 60 degrees Fahrenheit.