Perilla ‘Magilla’

* Common name: Perilla ‘Magilla’

* Botanical name: Perilla ‘Magilla’

* What it is: Technically an upright, bushy herb but grown as an ornamental foliage plant because of its showy and kaleidoscopic leaves, which are a blend of cream, green, pink and burgundy. Often mistaken for a coleus.

* Size: 2 feet tall and wide

* Where to use: Makes a nice pot centerpiece but also grows well in a sunny or partly sunny garden bed mixed with flowering annuals or perennials.

* Care: Avoid soggy soil but otherwise easy to grow and usually not bothered by bugs, disease or animals. Main care is snipping back if plants get too big or bushy. Fertilizer usually not needed in average soil. Easy to start new ones from tip cuttings.

* Great partner: Pink petunias and/or white alyssum.