But enough of that. I managed to visit one of my favorite nurseries while in Austin - Barton Springs Nursery. They always have so many healthy plants, a great variety of them, and knowledgeable staff. I had a list this time. I hoped a list would keep me on budget. For the most part it did but then I saw.... Patrick. Patrick's Abutilon, Abutilon hybridum 'Patrick's' to be precise.
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My, was he a looker. So daring, so delightful. How could I pass up his charms? The red veining on the bright orange, like some bold, devil-may-care butterfly. I was a goner. So I brought him home.
And then I had one of those gardener's moments. You know. The one where you go "what was I thinking?". This perennial grows up to 8 feet tall! And it likes "liberal" water! Sigh... so finding the right spot is going to be a challenge. I googled to see if I could keep him to a more manageable 4 - 5 feet but I've found very little info about it. I saw it on a couple of Austin-area blogs but no details yet. Stay tuned to see if my love at first sight lasts. :-)
Jean, I'm glad to hear you had a nice visit to Austin and to one of my favorite nurseries. There's been a flutter of email and comments in Austin lately about pruning abutilons, and the consensus seems to be that you can prune them hard, once established, to keep them at a manageable size. My own abutilons are new this year, however, so I have no direct experience to share with you.
ReplyDeleteHi Jean, so sorry you have been ill, what a bummer. Glad you went on your trip anyway, for look at your prize! I bought abutilons last year, then gave them away, for they had to come into the greenhouse and there was not room for them. Patrick is quite a looker! Easy to see how you were smitten by him. :-)
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Pam - thanks for the info. I think I will let it do its thing this year and then try to keep it pruned back. I'm assuming they should be pruned in late winter/early spring??
ReplyDeleteRuth and Frances - glad to hear you agree that Patrick was too tempting to pass up! :-)
Patrick's very handsome indeed! I have Marilyn's Choice in a pot on one patio while I continue cogitating about where to put her.
ReplyDeleteHey, I saw your comment over at Mr. Brown Thumb's site asking about resizing header photos on Blogger. I've done it using one of the photo editing programs on my computer; save it in the size you need it to be for your header and then upload it.
Thanks for the tip Cindy. I'll give it a try.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beauty! I just discovered abutilon a few years ago and I love them. I hope you get to feeling better soon!
ReplyDeleteThat is a really nice one. I'm in Z5 and had one as a standard topiary for a couple of years in a container and I trimmed it to stay about 4 feet tall.
ReplyDeleteI really like the colors of yours.
I had this abutilon in SE Louisiana. I just popped it in the ground in the wettest part of the garden and let it go! I found it needed trimming back (would get a bit unruly), but seemed to thrive on it.
ReplyDeleteBest for me: the hummers loved it! They'd get nectar from the petal base of the flower and would go from bloom to bloom to bloom. One of them got a bit territorial so I got a pink abutilon to go with my Patrick. Hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine!
Thanks for the info Jean!
ReplyDeleteHe is beautiful. Abutilons aren't hardy here, so we don't have the size problem. How about putting him next to a water spout? Sometimes that works for me cause they drip water when I turn them on.~~Dee
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