Back in the Saddle Again

Hello again, fellow coleophiles! I'm reviving this blog to announce an exciting event: Coleus Day at Atlock Farm in Somerset, NJ. The picture shows a portion of the coleus "encyclopedia," which has recently been pinched back and (I hope!) will be in its prime on Saturday, September 13. Here's the press release that will be going out this week:

COLEUS DAY AT ATLOCK FARM IN SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY

Discover the beautiful rainbow and surprising diversity of modern coleus at Coleus Day at Atlock Farm on Saturday, September 13, 2008 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Enjoy more than 100 different kinds of coleus in display gardens, including an elaborate formal garden and an “encyclopedia” containing dozens of different selections. Get inspired by impressive containers planted with coleus and complementary companion plants. Attention-getting specimen plants and topiaries will also be on display.

In addition to coleus, a wide range of other tropical, annual, and hardy plants will be at their colorful best throughout the gardens and greenhouse areas at Atlock.

Garden expert and author Ray Rogers, of North Brunswick, NJ, author of Coleus: Rainbow Foliage for Containers and Gardens and Pots in the Garden: Expert Design and Planting Techniques, and Ken Selody, of Somerset, NJ, owner of Atlock Farm and former contributing editor for Martha Stewart Living, will conduct tours of the nursery and present mini-workshops on making more coleus from cuttings and on creating easy-to-make coleus topiaries.

Discounts on Mr. Rogers’s autographed books, as well as on coleus and other selected plants and garden-related items, will be offered.

Admission and all programs are free.

For directions to Atlock, please visit www.atlockfarm.com.

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I want to think that down the road we will look back on this event as the first meeting of the Coleus Society. For those of you who responded to the survey and expressed interest in the Society, please realize that I haven't forgotten you. I need to recover your information from this site, and I admit readily I'm no computer techie. I can learn, right?

Here's another picture of the work in progress at Atlock. This is the same formal garden pictured in my book, Coleus: Rainbow Foliage for Containers and Gardens. See pages 72-73 (among others). What? You don't own a copy of the book or even know about it? More information will appear in an upcoming post.