(aka: Callianthe megapotamica) Hailing from the hot bed of great garden plants...the semi-tropical/warm temperate region of Southern Brazil and surrounding Uruguay and Argentina comes Brazilian bellflower. Abutilon megapotamicum is a fun and easy-to-grow hummingbird magnet for the perennial border. In the garden or in a hanging basket, Abutilon megapotamicum spreads to several feet wide in a single season. In the wild, Abutilon megapotamicum reaches 8' tall, but in temperate climate gardens, it rarely exceeds 6' tall x 10' wide, and less when grown as a container plant. From late summer until frost, the plants are laden with cool 2" hanging, lantern-like flowers composed of red calyces above the yellow petals, ending with its bright red privates dangling beneath...all carefully arranged between the thumb-sized green leaves. How about a hot Brazilian for your garden?
This is the second year this plant has been growing in my zone 8a garden in Northwestern South Carolina. It is hardy and evergreen through the winter even though it looks delicate... view moreand tender. It started blooming a month ago. The long-lasting blooms are stunningly beautiful, and the yellow portion eventually fades to pale red making the old faded blooms beautiful too.
It is growing permanently in the ground on the west side of a tall wooden privacy fence. It doesn't get morning sun but it gets full, hot sun from noon to sun-down. It requires daily water from June until Autumn or else the leaves look droopy and thirsty.
It grows between 2 shrubs, but they are not yet a good support for this plant. This plant has stiff, feather-weight stems that seem to grow nearly horizontally on the ground. I support the limbs as upright as possible with a wide hoop stake, all year-round, and increase the length of the stakes as the limbs grow longer. I saw one that looked well-supported by laying it's limbs over a picket fence, but the limbs on mine do not yet look long enough for that type of support.
I did not see the hummingbirds use it last year, but this plant was growing close to the ground and they had too many taller nectar plants to chose from. view less
Mine is 8ft high in a cold region of central England that frequently gets severe frosts. In poor sandy soil with little water it is a mass of exotic red and yellow flowers from ear... view morely May through till well into winter. Absolutely gorgeous. view less
One of my favorite plants to grow in western WA. It sometimes over winters for me in a pot. I get more comments from folks about this plant than any other in my garden, it is so ch... view morearming. I love it. view less
These little bells are so sweet! They are an absolute delight. I have mine in a pot as a thriller in a larger stationary pot in the driveway facing almost SE. It is a carefree p... view moreroducer of these bell flowers all summer and till frost. I have taken mine in for the winter for freeze days since it is still in a pot. The growth habit is not viney at all. Mine is about a 2 ft across skinny shrub like appearance without much fill between slender branches. I have tried to selective prune to see it that would make it bushier but it's habit of regrowth is a new shoot off the side of the mother stem - not multiple shoots at cutting as you may expect. It was fertilized once at the beginning of the season and watered almost daily since it is in a pot (but with good drainage). view less
I have two Abutilon megapotamicum plants , had them from Secret Garden Center Pontypool. Growing in tubes and growing very well. Well pleased with both plants, facing east,... view moresun all day until about 3pm. 10 pound each, well worth 20 quid. view less
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Q: I have had my tree for a year . It bloomed great last year, came through the winter with rapid growth indoors and little blooming. Has been moved back outside this summer, into the same spot as last year, after trimming to reshape. It has grown lushly with leaves much larger than...view morebefore,but only bloomed once and is showing no evidence of blooming in the near future. Our summer has been very hot and the leaves wilt easily but on watering perk up. What am I doing that could be retarding blooms?view less
A:Here are some general things that can cause Abutilons to not bloom:- Too much fertilizer (pushes leaf growth at the expense of flowers)- Pruning too much (Abutilon prefers light selective pinching of branches, not wholesale shearing or hard pruning)- Too much or too little water (Abutilon...view morelikes things dryish but not overly dry and too much water can cause root rot)- Lots of sunI hope you get your flowering maple back in shape. Happy Gardening!view less
A:The normal habit of this plant is as a lax shrub with long, thin branches. So from your description, it sounds normal. You can prune the branch tips to stimulate branching and make the plant bushier or you can work with its natural shade and espalier it or train it on a trellis like...view moreyou would a woody vine. Happy gardening!view less
