Is It Better To Cut Off Coleus Flowers or Let Them Bloom?

Coleus perennials outshine other shade lovers with their intricately detailed and variegated leaves. They flower at the end of the season, but should you let them? Let’s find out! Join longtime coleus gardener Jerad Bryant in seeing whether you should cut the blooms down or leave them be.

Written by Jerad Bryant Horticulture review by Sarah Jay Last updated: October 9, 2024 | 4 min read

Tall green stalks topped with pale purple buds rise above densely packed leaves that have serrated edges. The leaves are green with a magenta and purple center, forming a bright contrast with the stalks in the foreground.

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Coleus blooms are long spikes with tiny violet flowers. Each flower morphs into seeds that then sow new seedlings. In comparison to the prize-winning foliage, these flowers are no competition. They’re pretty but not nearly as show-stopping as some cultivars’ leaves.

Look to ‘Twist and Twirl,’ for example. It sports finely divided leaves with green and maroon hues. Or look to ‘Le Freak’ with lance-shaped maroon leaves with lime-green edges. The tiny purple flower spikes pale in comparison to these varieties’ foliage.

If you’re growing a plain green or red type, you may want to let flowers bloom! A mature specimen in flower is an attractive shrub—coleus blooms on each stem tip, producing a cluster of purple spikes. They’re small, but they balance well with the foliage below.

It’s ultimately your decision whether you want these houseplants to bloom, though there are some important things to consider first.

The Short Answer

It’s best to cut off coleus flowers if you’d like more leaves than flowers. Pruning the blossoms allows your shrubs to focus their energies on sprouting foliage sprouts rather than flowering ones. They rush to recover their lost limbs after you chop them off.

You should leave coleus flowers to bloom if you’d like to save seeds, invite pollinators to your garden, or simply like the look of the stems with blossoms on them. They don’t harm the plant, but they take energy to form and lead to fewer leaves over time.

Rainbow Blend Coleus Seeds

Coleus is an excellent houseplant that will add color to those dreary winter days. In the garden, its white, bronze, gold, copper, yellow, pink, red, and purple foliage will brighten up shady areas that typically are hard to grow flowers in! Also great for containers and planters!

Buy at Epic Gardening

The Long Answer

Lush burgundy and dark magenta leaves with jagged edges are paired with slender stems carrying small, scattered seeds. The plant’s vibrant colors stand out against a soft green background. — Whether or not to cut off the flowers depends on your hardiness zone, growing goals, and the conditions.

Coleus flowers are like any other species—they bloom, form seeds, and fade away. This perennial is evergreen in USDA hardiness zones 10 and 11, and will form new leaves after it finishes blooming. In all other areas, you’ll need to bring your plant indoors or take cuttings. Whether or not to cut off the flowers depends on your hardiness zone, your growing goals, and the conditions of your plants.

Expect Changes With The Seasons

A close view of a large, curved leaf in reddish-brown hues, with a single slender green stalk emerging from its center, supporting tiny budding seeds. The blurred background has hints of soft yellows and greens. — They shift from growing tall with many leaves to producing flowering spikes on stem ends.

These ornamentals start to bloom as days shorten and climates cool from late summer through fall. The shortening days signal a change in the plants—they shift from growing tall with many leaves to producing flowering spikes on stem ends. Indoors or outdoors, the perennials pick up on the differences and start blooming.

You can let the shrubs flower if you’d like, as they’ll provide pollen and nectar to tiny pollinating insects. Although the flowers are small, they attract insects with a slight, sweet scent. If your plants are growing indoors you’ll want to prune off the flowers so they have higher chances of surviving the winter. Coleus can enter a state of semi-dormancy with low light and little water, but the flowers prevent dormancy.

Flowering specimens spend all their energy on seed formation rather than root and stem growth, then they die when conditions grow hostile in the cold season. Indoor plants are especially at risk, particularly if they grow outdoors during the summer. For best results, start pinching flower buds off of the ones you know you’ll bring indoors for the winter.

Let Blooms Open

A dense cluster of deep red, heart-shaped leaves with soft textures grows at the base of a thick tree trunk. Sunlight illuminates the grass and leaves, adding brightness to the natural setting. — They’ll flower on their own, produce seeds, and drop their spent blossoms on the soil.

If you’re growing outdoors in zones 10 or 11, why not let them bloom? They’ll flower on their own, produce seeds, and drop their spent blossoms on the soil. The seeds sprout into seedlings that you can propagate further for more coleus plants.

Another excellent reason to let blossoms form is if you plan on hybridizing your shrubs. Maybe you like the colors of one’s leaves but the shape of another’s. Combine pollen from one with ovules on another, and you’ll create your very own hybrid species!

The final reason to let blooms bloom is if you’re a lazy gardener. Whether I’m lazy or not depends on the season, but if I can get away with not pruning, I will! Pruning in zones 10 and 11 is unnecessary unless you see dead or damaged stems. The blooms will fade on their own, and the stems will sprout new leaves in spring.

Prioritize Foliage

A vibrant carpet of leaves, each green with deep purple veins radiating from the center. The bright, chartreuse edges of the leaves contrast sharply with the darker hues, creating a striking layered pattern. — Pinching buds redirect precious resources toward healing the wounds.

You want to pinch off flower buds if you love the foliage more than the flowers. Pinching buds redirect precious resources in the plant toward healing the wounds and sprouting two new stems from the cut. When you pinch or prune, you encourage a denser, bushier, and more striking specimen.

With annual pinching, these specimens grow to be well-rounded mature bushes. They’ll look stately and architectural whether in pots indoors or outdoors in raised beds. As you’re pinching buds, remove any torn or diseased leaves, as well as those with pest damage. This refreshes your plants as they heal and sprout anew.

You can encourage bushier growth by pruning stems early in the growing season well before blooming. This isn’t a necessary step, but it can help create bushy, leafy plants in warm zones with long summers. If you garden with short springs and summers, avoid pruning coleus early. Your plants won’t have time to heal their wounds and grow new sprouts, and cutting will stunt them.

Save Seeds

A simple white vase holds a long, dried stalk topped with brown seed clusters. The vase is set against a plain, light beige wall, giving the dried plant a minimalistic, artistic presentation. — After two or four weeks, seeds should form where the blooms were.

You must let coleus flower if you want to save seeds. Without flowers, the plants can’t form seeds. They combine pollen and ovules to form tiny, black, shiny seeds. Some seed retailers cover them with colorful organic coatings so growers don’t lose them!

To save seeds, first, let coleus bloom. If your plants are outdoors, pollinators will most likely pollinate for you. Indoor plants, on the other hand, require you to pollinate them. Using a small and fine paintbrush, dust the flowers for pollen. Then, paint the pollen into others on the same plant or others nearby.

After two or four weeks, seeds should form where the blooms were. They’ll have a brown papery coating around them, although this opens and lets them fall to the ground as it dries fully. Once you start seeing seeds, chop the flowering stems off and place them upside down in a brown paper bag. The seeds will fall to the bottom of the bag, and you can collect them for long-term storage.

Overwintering Indoors

A collection of potted plants sits by a window, featuring tall stems with large reddish leaves alongside smaller green and purple plants. The window overlooks a lush outdoor garden, bathed in natural light. — Simply pinch off the buds and allow the cuttings to focus on root formation.

The final factor for flower pinching is overwintering and whether you’re doing it indoors or out. No matter if they’re cuttings, seedlings, or potted plants, you shouldn’t focus on flowering indoors. It takes away energy from root formation and makes them less winter-hardy. Instead, prune off buds as you see them.

Cuttings may form blossoms while they root in water or dirt. The stress of moving indoors and losing their mother plant causes them to think they’re dying. They may flower as a last-ditch effort to create more seedlings and continue their lineage.

Simply pinch off the buds and allow the cuttings to focus on root formation. After they root, transplant them into a pot and keep them indoors. Move them into your garden after temperatures warm in spring after your last frost date.