I've been whining for so long about how lovely they are that my kids finally gave me one. I've brought the kids up successfully (meaning they can take hints about gifts) but what do I do with the Abutilon striatum? It came with the bare minimum of instructions.
It was in flower when it came but that phase seems to be over and now it's all healthy-looking leaves. Any hints?
Thanks.
Felice of the Brown Thumb
Don't overwater it; make sure its in soil that drains well; give it full sun. The species you have like molst abutilons is hardy to zone 9, being too frost tender for northern climates. Abutilon megapotamicum is mild-frost hardy & would be good to zone 7. With heavy mulching, they've been grown even in Alaska as die-back perennials, but in their preferred zones they are semi-evergreen to deciduous woody shrubs six by six feet or larger, bloom late spring right on through much of winter (possibly blooming year round in zones 10), can after a mild frosty winter turn scruffy in early spring so may need heavy pruning before new growth begins. So long as they never get too cold or too wet, they're pretty darned easy shrubs, very rewarding with nearly perpetual flowering.
-paghat the ratgirl
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