You'll need to water melampodium only long enough to get young plants growing. Admiring the resulting mound of green and gold is all that is required of you for the rest of the summer. Expect flowers until frost. This plant often reseeds, so you may enjoy it again next year. Like most annuals, melampodium prefers well-drained soil.
Coleus is nature's answer to the crazy quilt.
Foliage colors are available in a patchwork of rich burgundy, red, pink, white, copper, purple, and a most unlikely chartreuse. Variegated selections make the assortment of color combinations seem endless, giving shade gardeners an array of choices. Pinch back blossoms to encourage production of the colorful leaves. Caladiums deserve to be planted in every shady garden in the South. There's nothing like the nodding, colorful foliage to set the stage for lazy summer days.