PlantFiles: Indian Mallow
Abutilon x suntense

This is surely one of the most beautiful shrubs which can be grown in cool temperate climates such as Britain.
Although the plant is hardy it tends to be short-lived, plants rarely living much more than three years.
After growing them for twenty years or more, I am sure that they must be planted where their roots are cool, shaded and moist. They will grow well in dappled sunlight - and this may extend their lives.
In spring sprinkle a well-balanced granular fertiliser around the base and spray a couple of times for aphids, and keep them well-watered..
After flowering prune back two feet and remove the seed heads (keep a few for sowing). Remove dead branches .If the weather is warm they will flower again in the fall.
A number of cultivars used to be available, but only 'Jermyns' seems to be obtainable now.
This plant often breeds true from seed, but there is always a possibility of getting colour variations - pinker, darker, or bluer - I have obtained some beautiful variations.

Abutilon x suntense. Abutilons are a large family of plants of over 150 species ranging from the almost frost hardy to the sub-tropical. A. x suntense is a cross between A. ochsenii and A. vitifolium, the later of which it closely resembles. Flowers, like A. vitifolium, are lavender and profuse. Leaves are dark green, coarsely toothed and smooth (unlike A. vitifolium which are hairy). A vigorous shrub to 10 feet, there is some doubt as to its hardiness. In my garden it grows under the protective canopy of a mature Sycamore tree here in European Zone 8. Only in the severest Winters have I lost it (or its close relative A. vitifolium).