Question
I just splurged and bought a huge beautiful dark coleus plant for my patio.  I accidentally left it outside in the sun for a day and now the leaves have all bleached out.  Will they turn dark again if I keep it in the shade or do I cut them off to help regrowth?  I'm not much of a plant person so I'm not sure what to do.  I live in Wisconsin and did not have the plant outside in the cold weather, it has been in my sunroom.  Also, it did not get dried out because I had just watered it in the morning and it was not a hot day outside.  Thanks.

Answer
Ginny,
If you pinch off the most damaged leaves, or even cut the stems back by up to five inches, the plant will regrow new leaves. The ones that are bleached out are sun burned and won't turn dark again.  You can put the plant out once the night time temps are above 50 degrees - I'd recommend either planting it in the ground in a shady or part-sunny place (morning sun is better for these plants than afternoon sun) or plant it in a slightly larger pot. If it was in a larger pot with some more potting soil around the sides and bottom of the root ball, the plant won't dry out as quickly.

I hope this helps,
C.L.