Sorry I'm late getting to this...I've been in and out of town for awhile, taking care of family stuff. I had over 75 cuttings rooted before the big freeze, but sadly, many of them look pretty bad right now. Some I think will pull through if I get them in the ground and feed them. Some are history, and some look fine, as is. I can't figure out exactly why I've had such mixed results. Yes, as Katkin says, some coleus are annuals grown from seed, and those are the hardest to keep going over winter. Mostly, they have lived their full life expectancy and are headed for that great flower bed in the sky. But, in THEORY, you should be able to take cuttings from the perennials for new plants, and then trim the parents back to about 1/3 or so of their original size, feed 'em up, and wait for them to bounce back. That's the theory. Let's see what the reality is for us. I confess that some of mine won't get that chance, because I yanked the scabby things out after making cuttings. Now I wish I had just left them to see what they would do. I was impatient and didn't want to look at the twiggy sticks. I'm such an Instant Gratification kinda gal! Good luck everyone. I'm going to try to find time later to post some more about coleus. I have some photos to share and some questions to ask. Marcia

Action, Coleus are simple yet complex. If they're set in a bright indirect sun, the colors are vivid, very pronounced, however, if placed in full sun, the colors fade..In summer, direct sun will burn the leaves within hours, even in a northern exposure. When the sun is shining, and temps are high, Coleus confined to a pot need a lot more water opposed to one planted in the ground. Possibly 2 or 3 times a day. A couple summers ago I bought a semi-large Coleus from an outdoor garden center. When I got home I placed it on the front porch. It was about 2pm. Later that evening, between 5-6pm I went out front to take a peek..its poor leaves were curled and soil bone dry. (It was drenched when I bought it.) Talk about discolored foliage! It was originally Deep Purple with Gold edging. 4-5 hours after bringing it home, the leaves turned pale: Yellow and brown. Action, you said both Coleus got the same amount of light? Are you certain one wasn't obstructed by a tree, building or anything elsee? Was one repotted, fertilized, anything done differently? It's strange..I hope I'm wrong, and probably am, but have you inspected the pale Coleus for Spider Mites? Coleus are easy targets. Like I said, hope I'm wrong, but it never hurts to check. Toni .

My "Dark Star" seems to die every year, much in contrast to my other coleus, which usually live through the winter. "Religious Radish" was awesome, and I had a few other named varieties that lost their tags, so I have no clue what they are, but they did well also. "Rose Trails" did very well. I'm waiting for it to sport off another "Dark Trails", because that one died. I found a replacement for my heirloom trailer, but it isn't thriving. Living, but not doing as well as I'd like. All my NN's did well except the lance leafs. They aren't as hardy, I don't think, but so pretty! Now I want a Sedona!

Quite a bit of poo-poo'ing going on here from those who haven't really tried this. I do many Coleus cuttings every fall, sometimes as few as 50, sometimes as many as 150, put in water, and left there until spring, only adding water as needed so they don't dry out. After bringing in around 100 potted plants, there's no room for pots of Coleus also (unless it's cuttings stuck in existing pots, as temporary winter companions,) just jars in windowsills. I don't change the water, or use a razor blade, or anything else unusual. Here's one shot of one small area. I have Coleus allllll over my yard, all saved. I use pieces as big as possible (stopping short of cutting into hard, woody material) to keep their numbers as low as possible, and to start spring with the biggest possible plants. Some cuttings are 2-feet tall. Steel, if you come back to this discussion, I wonder if your plants had already gotten too cold? Waiting until panic night, the first night of frost, can mean that plants have already experienced a few nights near freezing. Temps near/below 40 seem to freak Coleus out, they are much more unlikely to take root after that. My only problems have been the years when I waited too long like that. I'd been doing this for many yrs in OH, and continue to do it here in AL. Here's a crazy combo pot from last winter, with Coleus and various other plants cheating winter by jumping inside for a few months. I cut the Coleus & stuck stems into the pot, takes a few seconds. A denizen of shade for summer, a sunny window keeps Coleus looking great during winter. Potting like this is a newer method for me, within the past few yrs. Before then, it was nothing but jars of water, which is still my main method for saving the bulk of the cuttings, since I want to save so many. This pot has only about 4-5 pieces of Coleus, stuck in the pot about 2 months before this pic, (seen in ground in the above pic.) They are the same Coleus, saved over several winters as seen in this pic, from 2012, haven't bought any new ones since: A few days later, everything had been chopped up & put in jars, ready to come inside. They can be separated into more jars later, until the roots form a massive tangle. Any not separated by then get left together & planted in a clump in the spring.