Kentish Belle

One of the few plants still in flower in the garden is my Abutilon 'Kentish Belle'. This is one of five varieties of Abutilon still in flower in January. Most are hardy down to minus five so I just cover them with horticultural fleece if a frost is forecast. In my experience Abutilons don't produce viable seed pods in this country. I propagate mine from softwood cuttings taken in early summer. I was surprised to find that this one has produced a couple of seed pods so I'm going to see if I can grow some from seed. I'm also expecting to add four more varieties to my collection later this year.