UNITED STATES—Home gardens display more floral color now than at any other time of year. So much is in bloom. So much more is generating fresh new foliage. Most, but not all, of such foliage is green. Some is splendidly colorful. Although foliar color is generally not as vivid as floral color, it lasts longer. Some evergreen colorful foliage retains its color throughout the year.

Colorful foliage is not the same as foliage that turns color for autumn, although it can be. Most is evergreen. Generally, it is most colorful as it grows fresh through warming spring weather. Some fades somewhat through summer. Some deciduous colorful foliage also turns color for autumn. Also, some foliarly colorful species provide fruit or showy flowers.

A few cultivars of European elderberry with bronze or variegated foliage produce berries. Variegated pink lemon is, as its name implies, both variegated and fruitful. Smoke tree is fruitless, but is colorful twice. It is either dark bronze or bright chartreuse yellow for spring and summer. Then, it turns color for autumn. It lacks color only while bare through winter.

Colorful foliage, like Olympic Medals, is bronze, silver or gold.

Colorful foliage can be bronze, silver, gold or variegated. Bronze is the most varied since it can be bronzy shades of purple, red, orange or brown. Purple leaf plum is probably the most familiar tree with bronzy purple foliage. A few cultivars of New Zealand flax produce foliage that is either bronze or variegated. Their variegations can be bronze, gold or pink.

Silver foliage occurs mostly among plants that are endemic to high elevations or deserts. Such color reflects some of the harshly intense sunlight to protect the foliage from scald. Both Colorado blue spruce and Arizona cypress are naturally endemic to high elevation. Blue agave is endemic to deserts. Silvery foliage can be gray, pale blue or almost white.

Colorful foliage is not otherwise an advantage, though. Gold and variegated foliage has less chlorophyll than green foliage, so grows slower. New Zealand flax, smoke tree and elderberry can be either gold or bronze. Gold cultivars of each are innately less vigorous than the bronze. Coleus and caladium are among the most variegated of colorful foliage.

Highlight: Coleus

The colorful foliage of coleus, Coleus scutellarioides, is exquisite. It is comparable to the floral display of other more popular warm season annuals. With rich soil and systematic watering, it grows efficiently through the warmth of spring. Removal of floral spikes of tiny blue flowers through summer promotes more foliar growth. Foliage can last until autumn.

Coleus foliage is elaborately variegated with many distinct color combinations. The color range includes green, chartreuse, yellow, orange, red, burgundy, pink, white and brown. Variegation is typically in symmetrical patterns, but can be random blotches and streaks. Leaves can be intricately lobed or merely serrate. Growth can be two feet high and wide.

Although a warm season annual within home gardens, coleus is a perennial houseplant. It tries to bloom more as it matures, though. Vegetative stems root efficiently as cuttings, even in water. New cuttings can replace deteriorating old plants. As a houseplant, coleus needs a relatively sunny situation. Within home gardens, it tolerates some partial shade. Aphid can be a problem.

Tony Tomeo can be contacted at tonytomeo.com.