While there are dozens of annual flowers that bloom in the sun, there are very few that bloom in the shade. The shade gardener is often limited in his/her search for plants for all season color.

An exception to this is the coleus, a perennial herb from the islands of the South Pacific. Coleus grows so rapidly from seed that they can be used effectively in the annual garden.

Coleus range in height from 6 inches to 3 feet and their foliage includes every color in the rainbow. Leaves are highly colored - olive, bronze, burgundy, chartreuse, green, rose, red, and pastel shades.

Breeders have developed oak-leaved, fringed, and thin-leaved varieties as well as broad-leafed types.

Some of the newer varieties include the rainbow series, which has heart-shaped leaves and comes in eleven colors.

Carefree is a series with 12-inch oak shaped leaves of red, gold, and several pastel hues.

Wizard, a 10-inch variety, has the most intense colors of any coleus.

Kong is one of the larger varieties - over two feet tall with foot long leaves.

Two popular varieties are Black Dragon with heavily crimped and serrated leaves that are fiery red and deep purple, and Tartan with leaves splashed with black, red, green and yellow.

Coleus make beautiful hanging baskets. They will grow upright before starting to weep over the side of the pot.

Candidum is a green and white variety often used as pot plants.

Seedlings are currently available at most greenhouses and garden centers.

Space the young plants at 12- to 16-inch intervals. If the seedlings are quite small, they will show little leaf color except green, but brilliance develops as they grow. The slower growing seedlings usually produce the most intense colors.

Coleus is not fussy about soil but it does prefer it to be light and humus. Water during dry spells or the plant will droop and growth will be retarded.

To keep plants from becoming tall and spindly, pinch tips out. Also remove the insignificant flowers that form. Pinching will get you the bushiest plants.

An easy way to increase your supply of your favorite varieties is to pinch out the tip of the plant and root in plain water.

Coleus has an added bonus over other plants. In the fall, before frost kills them, take tip cuttings. The new plants started from these will make colorful houseplants. In the spring you can again do tip cuttings from the houseplants for outdoor planting.

Coleus has two enemies. They cannot tolerate full sun and are attacked by aphids and mealy bugs. Keep them in the shade to avoid sunburn. If insects attack, spray with Orthene.