PlantFiles: Flowering Maple, Chinese Bell Flower, Chinese Lantern
Abutilon x hybridum

I wintersowed this from seeds in zone 7a. I only had a few make it but the ones that did have made a lovely large container plant with very interesting flowers. I have a question though..Can anyone tell me what to do to make the flowers more visable? The leaves are large and very healthy and my flowers bloom kind of inside the density of the leaves. I have to move the leaves to the side to see the flowers. All of the pictures I've seen of this plant shows the flowers much more visable. Any suggestions?

I love my Flowering Maples. I have two that grow all year round here in Northern Michigan. I put them out in a pot sometime in May or early June and they come inside around late October. Obviously the weather dictates. I lost my red one when I left it out to long but the salmon and pink live in a pot togther and have for several years. Sure they get leggy but they also bloom year round. Clip them back and they will grow more. I water when the soil is dry and then I give it a big drink. Sometimes they get to dry but they come back immediately. My light comes from the south. That I get color year round gives me the lift I need during the winter. Might be as good as a white light! Dave Siegrist has them in the late spring in a variety of colors. Dave has one that is easily ten years old, has a trunk around 3 inches thick and is about four feet tall. He cuts it way back in the fall and it grows in his greenhouse.

I love this plant!!! Got it at a botanical garden in Santa Barbara, CA and took it home to Running Springs, CA. Leave it outside during the late spring, summer, and fall, but take it inside during the winter due to snow. The plant is getting tall and unmanageable. Any advice on pruning it down? Does it bush up if pruned?

I've bought a good many of these plants over the years and have always dug them up before winter and put them in the greenhouse. Last winter I decided to leave one out. It eventually died almost completely back, but when spring came, it came back up. I think I'll try it leaving a couple out again this year and see how they do. I live in Florence, MS

I received a small flowering maple last year as a gift. It took awhile for it to get going but I had nonstop salmon colored blossoms,gorgeuos velvet soft spotted leaves, until it was time to overwinter. Although it was in a somewhat sunny window it has become a bit lanky although new growth is constant. Leaves have gotten smaller,buds form but do not develop.My guess the room temperature may be a little to cold, I can only afford to keep the heat here around 60.My friends plant seems to be doing well and has flowered all winter. It's in a strong morning sun window and I suspect he keeps his house warmer than I do. However, a plan on giving the plant a good haircut ,a bigger pot and with a little fairer weather,this summer it will thrive again!

It does well in the shade here too--and still flowers well. So far, so good with the humidity.

I bought this plant at a local Target and went back to get another, but what was left was not worth the price...I did find a seed pod laying in the soil under one of the plants, so I swiped it and came home, broke it open and put it in a little soil in a window facing north. I now have about 5 or 6 little seedlings!
Cant wait to see what happens!
In the yard this plant is doing beautifully in a pot in deep shade, with only broken morning sun...( for about an hour or so...) I love its old fashioned look, a pretty little gem.

A very beautiful plant. Flowers resemble Hibiscus flowers. This plant enjoys moist soil. pokerboy.

I grow this as a potted plant because it is not winter hardy here in zone 4b. However, although it thrives in pots and roots easily, I have not had flowers since the first year, when there were magnificent red flowers. I have tried bright sun, full shade and eerything in between; lots of fertilizer, lean soil; heavy watering, minimal watering; pinching back and allowing sprawl beyond 3 ft. Any suggestions?

So easy to root from cuttings!!! The only down side to this plant is that it gets leggy and tends to split off branches when you get heavy rain. I keep it trimmed back to 5 ft first year and 7 feet second year to give the branches time to harden. Hummers stop here first!

We are not sure just which flower we have. It flowers all year around and provides 24/7 hummingbird nectar for our hummer families. I have been unable to find seeds, trying to propagate with air layers

Here in coastal Northern CA this is a partial sun plant like so many others. Our hot dry summers stress it with aphid attacks -- if yours start to lose leaves along the inner stems, it is probably under attack and you need to start correcting this immediately. Once the aphids are taken care of, leaves will rejuvenate along the bare areas of the branches once again. Even well mulched you need to keep this plant moderately watered, but it is worth it as few shrubs can match the year-round bloom and lacy layered effect of the branches.

A hybrid shrub suitable for keeping indoors in frost prone areas.

Has 3-5 lobed, mid green, evergreen or semi evergreen leaves which may sometimes be variegated. Bears bell shaped, nodding, papery flowers from Spring through to Autumn but can flower during other times of the year too.

Likes a well drained, sunny position. Prune back crossing shoots in late winter or early spring.

I rooted it from a cutting last summer and it bloomed as a cutting. I potted it for winter, since it isn't hardy outside at zone 6, and it bloomed all winter. Put it back outside and it hasn't stopped blooming yet. Mine has coral papery petals with yellow sepals and orange pitils and stamen. The leaves are very aromatic like mint.

Its a great plant! Blooms all the year, even in winter.
I water it every day and fertilize every week.