This is one of my favorite shrubs, alongside Lavatera 'Barnsley' and L. maritima. It is really halfway between a tree and a shrub,someti...Read Moremes with one trunk, sometimes with many.
In my garden in Cornwall, UK., it flowers once in May and again in September, but in Southampton - which has a shorter growing season - it only flowered in May.
Like the lavateras, it is often short-lived - most of mine died after their second flowering, but one lived for five years and was doing well when I moved house. Signs of imminent death are smaller leaves and brown stains along the branches.
I think it does best in dappled shade, moist, well-drained soil and shade around the base. All dead wood should be cut out regularly, and top growth pruned back by 3 feet after flowering -- and some slow-release fertilizer scattered around the soil. In other words it needs a lot of care to extend its life.
Sometimes the flowers may seem rather pale, once I tried intensifying the flower colour by feeding it with sequestered iron (Sequestrone) and the results were quite drastic -- the colour went a lot deeper. This year I've tried Aluminium sulphate with quite good results.
When buying a plant, only choose plants which have several branches and large healthy leaves. If the plant has one tall straight stem with few branches, and the leaves are small, it is pot-bound and is unlikely to survive -- even pruning it back fails to make it branch out.
This plant is a hybrid between Abutilon ochsenii and vitifolium, and has medium violet flowers and vine-shaped, slightly downy leaves Abutilon suntense 'Violetta' is supposed to have purpler flowers, but no two descriptions of this plant are the same, and I wonder if anyone knows the difference, or if it exists!
This is one of my favorite shrubs, alongside Lavatera 'Barnsley' and L. maritima. It is really halfway between a tree and a shrub,someti...Read More