Chinese Lanterns Are Blooming

Abutilon is one of my favorite shrubs, although I think of it more as a flowering perennial. It lacks much substance as a shrub and is grown mostly for the blooms which hang upside down and have a paper-y texture to them, thus the common name of Chinese Lanterns or Chinese Bellflowers. Another common name is Flowering Maples because of their maple-like leaves.

They are a shade plant here and they are just starting to bloom like crazy, although really they have blooms almost year round. I have a number of white ones in the Moonlight Garden, but I love the wispy pink and coral colored ones the most. They don't seem to be bothered with too many pests, although when stressed they do wilt a bit and are susceptible to white fly. They like good drainage and make excellent container plants.