A disabled friend bought an Abutilon some years ago, as a tiny 'stick'
(his words) stuck it in a pot, ignored it and today it is the most
beautiful plant, about 5' tall in it's 20" ish pot with a nice thick
woody 'trunk'.

I have now also bought a 'stick' from the garden center for 75p. It
was yellow leaved, dry, limp and sad ....... apart from a few tiny
bits of healthy looking growth.

A month later I have watered and fed it, talked to it, and placed it
against our sunny SW facing wall .......... and now it's all healthy
looking, smiling, pleased to be with us, and flowering ............
but still only an 8" stick !!

Any suggestions to keep it going please !!! Winter time? Leave in the
pot? plant in the garden? Don't talk to it?

Thanks in advance ............

MHM

AndWhyNot wrote:

A disabled friend bought an Abutilon some years ago, as a tiny 'stick'
(his words) stuck it in a pot, ignored it and today it is the most
beautiful plant, about 5' tall in it's 20" ish pot with a nice thick
woody 'trunk'.

I have now also bought a 'stick' from the garden center for 75p. It
was yellow leaved, dry, limp and sad ....... apart from a few tiny
bits of healthy looking growth.

A month later I have watered and fed it, talked to it, and placed it
against our sunny SW facing wall .......... and now it's all healthy
looking, smiling, pleased to be with us, and flowering ............
but still only an 8" stick !!

Any suggestions to keep it going please !!! Winter time? Leave in the
pot? plant in the garden? Don't talk to it?

Thanks in advance ............

MHM

Depends which species it is.. Some such as those sold under the
'Patioplants' label are pretty hardy. These are the red *and* yellow
flowered ones. Sorry I cannot remember the species.
Others prefer to be brought in for the winter and kept in a frost free
environ. They grow pretty fast once establishd and are not that hard to
propagate, so if you get the one you have going well you could take some
cuttings and try some each way.
//
Jim

Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:151113


"AndWhyNot" wrote in message
s.com...
A disabled friend bought an Abutilon some years ago, as a tiny 'stick'
(his words) stuck it in a pot, ignored it and today it is the most
beautiful plant, about 5' tall in it's 20" ish pot with a nice thick
woody 'trunk'.


No disrespect intended at all, but I'm curious as to why you noted that your
friend was disabled in this post?

Elizabeth

Incoming P.C. attack ??

--
Regards
Marcus

In article 1fx4hd4.10le41ywczeqwN%00senetnospamtodayta@macun limited.net
, Jim W writes
Depends which species it is.. Some such as those sold under the
'Patioplants' label are pretty hardy. These are the red *and* yellow
flowered ones. Sorry I cannot remember the species.
Others prefer to be brought in for the winter and kept in a frost free
environ. They grow pretty fast once establishd and are not that hard to
propagate, so if you get the one you have going well you could take some
cuttings and try some each way.

The "species" is _Abutilon x hybridum_. This is a group of hybrids of
which the principal parents are _A. striatum_ (= _A. pictum_) and _A.
darwinii_. _A. megapotamicum_ is also involved in the ancestry of some
cultivars, and Bean suggests the same of _A. insigne_.

In the United Kingdom these are usually grown as wall or conservatory
shrubs. Variegated varieties, e.g. _A. striatum_ 'Thompsonii', are also
used as a spot foliage plants in municipal bedding.

The hardier species are the blue-flowered _Corynabutilon vitifolium_ and
_C. ochsenii_, and their hybrid _C. x suntense_. I've seen this is an
unpromising location as a Northumbrian hillside (The Italian Garden at
NT Cragside).
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley
http://www.meden.demon.co.uk/Malvace...n/gallery.html
http://www.meden.demon.co.uk/Malvace...n/gallery.html