Digging deeperPlant Library

Other Names:  Chinese Bellflower, Indian Mallow, Parlor Maple

Description:

This indoor or outdoor dwarf variety produces stunning tangerine-pink flowers; lantern-like buds open to pendulous cup-shaped blooms that keep coming and coming; a perfect container plant; attracts hummingbirds

Ornamental Features

Lucky Lantern® Tangerine Abutilon features bold orange bell-shaped flowers with pink overtones along the branches from early spring to late winter. Its attractive lobed palmate leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Lucky Lantern® Tangerine Abutilon is a multi-stemmed annual with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Lucky Lantern® Tangerine Abutilon is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Lucky Lantern® Tangerine Abutilon will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 inches. Although it's not a true annual, this fast-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Lucky Lantern® Tangerine Abutilon is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.