Meg Liptrot sings the praises of an old fashioned, forgotten beauty - abutilon.
Known commonly as Chinese lantern, abutilon (Abutilon x hybridum) is often found in the older suburbs, where gardens are established with large trees and plenty of shade. A couple of my friends, who always flatted in and around Mt Eden, lived in a beautiful, arty bungalow for many years. There was a large puriri tree in their volcanic garden, but what I remember most was the bright, cheery orange of the abutilon which greeted you as you walked down the side path into the lower terraced garden. Its flowers happened to match the colour of the house, and the plant always seemed to be flowering.
My mother remembers an orange abutilon at my great grandfather's old seaside bungalow. The particular shade of orange I've seen in the older gardens reminds me of fabric lampshades from the 70s. Maybe this is why I have a fondness for this uncelebrated plant, and decided to give it a go in the semi-shaded areas in our garden in need of filling.
There's an array of colours available these days, so I chose white, dark burgundy and shell pink cultivars, to tie in with the white banksia rose, and pink magnolia already in the garden. I found the white cultivar outperformed the coloured ones, but the others are still doing well.
Abutilon is a shrubby plant which grows to 2.5m. The leaves are mid to dark green and are soft maple leaf-shaped, giving rise to their other common name, the "flowering maple". We also have a small maple tree in our garden, so it was a good match.
