Hardy to zone 9 although it will die back to the ground when frosted, or easy to save as a house plant over winter if you donâÂÂt mind itâÂÂs nakedness. A potted plant takes up a lot more space and I usually only have one and save the rest as cuttings in water. Even though itâÂÂs plenty warm in your house, the change of sunlight combined with the dry indoor air almost always cause this (potted) plant to go semi-dormant (sleeping.) If you are going to bring one inside, I recommend removing almost all of the leaves first, because thatâÂÂs easier than picking them up off of the floor later, and they can get crumbly when dry. Leaving 3-5 leaves at each growing tip will be plenty. Let it get a bit more dry than when it was outside actively growing. When frosts are no longer a danger, youâÂÂll have a LARGE plant to put outside, and it will fill out with beautiful new purple leaves within a few weeks, especially if repotted when replaced outside. DonâÂÂt be shy about trimming the roots. I've been saving these plants over winter since the 90's. You can do it, either potted or water cuttings!

wow!! everyone's coleus are absolutely gorgeous!! makes me want a bunch... i'm gonna buy some next spring and see if they will grow here, maybe in pots (PHX, AZ). purple, when I move back to Bama, me and you gotta get together LOL - I LOVE coleus and begonias - well.... basically ALL plants. can't wait to have a garden again. hope the next few years go by quick. There's a coleus that I want to find, an old-timey one that my grandmother used to have (don't know the name) Debbie

Yes Florah I have an amarnth in there but I got it from a cutting and was not told it's name.It grows quite tall and I recently had to whack it but I propagated the pieces. BUTI found this write up Tapioca is one of the common names of Manihot esculenta 'Variegata' as is cassada, cassava, manioc, yuca, mandioca, shushu, muk shue, cassave, maniok, tapioka, imanoka, maniba, kasaba, katela boodin. The reason we chose the name tapioca is because it is the name of a favorite dessert of mine - tapioca pudding. Tapioca is sort of like Poke Salad made from Poke weed in the Southeastern U.S.-- if the cook doesn't know what he is doing, the meal will kill you! Cooking destroys the prussic acid. In South America, the green leafed Tapioca is grown for its enlarged starch-filled tuberous roots. There is a bitter, poisonous- and a sweet, - nonpoisonous variety of tapioca; however the skin stays poisonous and the sweet variety must be peeled. There are hydrocyanic glucosides (HCN) in all parts of the plant; these glucosides are removed by peeling and boiling in water. The peeled roots of the sweet variety is what the original tapioca pudding was made. I remember enjoying a version of this when I was a baby in Tennessee. I wonder if they were trying to poison me?!? The root of the bitter variety is very poisonous when raw but cooking destroys the hydrocyanic acid -- the cooking water must be discarded just as when cooking Poke Salad. The young leaves are used as vegetable and contain a high amount of vitamin A and C but older leaves are not often used. The bitter ones are grated, diluted in water and pressed in a cylindrical basket-work "press" to extract the juice. The paste of tapioca can be baked into pancake-like bread while the extracted juice is fermented into a strong liquor called kasiri. The juice can also be concentrated and sweetened until it becomes a dark viscous syrup called kasripo (casareep). This syrup has antiseptic properties and is used for flavoring. All of this is to warn folks that variegated tapioca is a clone of a tropical food plant, however, the milky sap of the foliage contains cyanide compounds and SHOULD NOT BE EATEN. Instead of eating this beautiful ornamental plant, go to the closest fast food place to satisfy your hunger. Also, don't worry about your pets eating enough to hurt themselves because all parts of the plants contain distasteful cyanide compounds and have a rough texture which is not very palatable. Deer will eat tapioca but it does not spoil the venison. Variegated tapioca is a heat lover being from South America and does not grow vigorously until night temperatures are warm in spring In fact the foliage will exhibit chilling injury when night temperatures dip much below 50 degrees F. As long as it is hot, variegated tapioca will thrive in most any well drained soil or container potting mix, tolerating a wide range of pH. It enjoys weekly irrigation in lieu of rainfall-- the soil should be constantly moist and mulch should be used. Plants will grow just as well in alkaline soil as they will in acidic soils. They are somewhat tolerant to foliar salt exposure in the Coastal Bend area. Full sun brings out the best foliage color, but plants will tolerate partial shade although the foliage will be less dense and not as vibrant in color. Avoidance of over-watering is critical to success-this is NOT a swamp plant. Variegated tapioca offers an exciting tropical addition to our summer palette of annuals used for foliage color.Try some this summer and enjoy the foliage of South America.

Hi Have fun with it. One of my favorite plants due to adaptability. Only thing I've found it will not tolerate is drying out. The best color was achieved in dense shade in running water.. There the color becomes so intense it glitters. The more light the paler the color. Even better it can be pruned into any shape form or method. Might add that in that situation it flowered. The flowers are small inconspicuous and stink!!! lol Fortuneately it doesn't flower in most situations lol. It also climbed the waterfall rooting at every node and has proven impossible to remove without destroying the falls. has never become invasive in other situations. In higher light you can get an infusion of a copper bronze color. I even grow it a terrarium and can be kept under 5 inches tall with leaves about a quarter of normal. My kind of plant !!! gary