Abutilons are fun plants to grow from seed. They germinate pretty easily, grow fast, and bloom the first year with impressive blooms. A strain of hybrids called “Bella” came out a decade or so ago and I tried them and ended up with a lovely, large-flowered pink specimen. Later, I purchased more seeds that were not Bella. The results were smaller-flowered, but fun in their own right.

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The two greenhouse plants I have of Abutilon are the two pictured above. I have had a few others, as well, which I planted outside and which come up each year and bloom in the autumn.

Abutilons are very forgiving plants. They have survived overwatering and drought and being extremely underpotted and underfed. The worst challenge they pose for me is that they are tough to grow into a pleasing shape. They want to grow whippy, leggy branches. I’ve tried pinching them but that only helps a little –they still don’t branch much. But they are still beautiful when they bloom.

My 2020 goals for these two plants are to repot them in the spring into larger pots with fertile soil and to prune them down to a great starting shape. Then, I’ll just let them grow and bloom, which is what they do best!