Manual of Gardening

ABUTILONS, or flowering maples as they are often called, make good
house plants and bedding plants. Nearly all house gardeners have at
least one plant.

Common abutilons may be grown from seed or from cuttings of young wood.
If the former, the seed should be sown in February or March in a
temperature of not less than 60 deg.. The seedlings should be potted when
about four to six leaves have grown, in a rich sandy soil. Frequent
pottings should be made to insure a rapid growth, making plants large
enough to flower by fall. Or the seedlings may be planted out in the

border when danger of frost is over, and taken up in the fall before
frost; these plants will bloom all winter. About one half of the newer
growth should be cut off when they are taken up, as they are very liable
to spindle up when grown in the house. When grown from cuttings, young
wood should be used, which, after being well rooted, may be treated in
the same way as the seedlings.

The varieties with variegated leaves have been improved until the
foliage effects are equal to the flowers of some varieties; and these
are a great addition to the conservatory or window garden. The staple
spotted-leaved type is _A. Thompsoni._ A compact form, now much used for
bedding and other outdoor work, is _Savitzii,_ which is a horticultural
variety, not a distinct species. The old-fashioned green-leaved _A.
striatum,_ from which _A. Thompsoni_ has probably sprung, is one of the
best. _A. megapotamicum_ or _vexillarium_ is a trailing or drooping
red-and-yellow-flowered species that is excellent for baskets, although
not now much seen. It propagates readily from seed. There is a form with
spotted leaves.

Abutilons are most satisfactory for house plants when they are not much

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