Flowering maple keeps blooming after freeze

November 21, 2014


I’ll soon be posting pictures of my Japanese maple, as its leaves are starting to redden. But for now the flowering maples, aka abutilons, are stealing the show. A few light freezes don’t slow them down. Cool weather is their time to shine.


This unnamed pink abutilon I got at Barton Springs Nursery a few years ago is one of my favorites. I had two of these but lost one in last year’s hard winter. This survivor was killed to the ground but came back quickly in the spring.


Abutilon ‘Bartley Schwarz’ also survived to bloom another year. And look — it’s echoing the temporary orangey red on the curved wall!

All material © 2006-2014 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

12 responses to “Flowering maple keeps blooming after freeze”

  1. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    These are wonderful annuals in my garden and as you mentioned they do their best blooming during fall here.

  2. TexasDeb says:

    Twice I’ve headed over to cut back my Patrick’s abutilon but it keeps blooming and I decide to wait another two weeks. I ought to move it where the height doesn’t become an issue but mine dies back to the ground annually and I keep “forgetting” about it.

    Any progress on the wall color front? I still vote for purple and/or putting a different color on the edges. Maybe purple on the edges?

    • Pam/Digging says:

      It’s hard to cut them back when they’re blooming so prettily. As for the wall, it must wait until February. I have a big writing deadline on 2/1, and with the holidays coming, I just don’t have time to play around with it right now, except in my head, which is nonstop. —Pam

  3. Shirley says:

    Abutilon is such a treat with its pretty late fall blooms. I like them and so do the deer. Now mine are up on the deck and maybe they’ll rebloom.

  4. What a treat! I love everything about Abutilons : ) Happy Thanksgiving!

  5. Kris P says:

    Beautiful plant. I’m looking forward to picking up one or more of these for the “new” shady area gained after removal of our front lawn.

  6. Astra says:

    Did you do much prep work to the planting site? I have two I ordered from Plant Delights but they’re still in pots because I wasn’t sure about how they would tolerate the clay soil.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Nope, nothing special, Astra. I will say that I’ve planted five varieties of abutilon, and some have thrived and others have failed. I’ve had good luck with ‘Marilyn’s Choice’, the unnamed pink, and ‘Bartley Schwarz’. I’m also trying one I bought from Plant Delights last year, ‘Souvenir de Bonn’, but the jury’s still out. —Pam