Plant of the Month February 2018

Abutilon x hybridum 'Ashford Red'

Family: Malvaceae

Origin: Garden

Accession: 1981

Location: Temperate Glasshouse

Abutilon is a large genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, distributed through the tropics and sub-tropics of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Australia. ‘Ashford Red’ is a hybrid cultivar which can flower all winter in a cool glasshouse. It needs a minimum winter temperature of 5°C. It is a semi-evergreen shrub up to 3m in height, with pendant bell-shaped flowers up to 6cm long. It can be susceptible to glasshouse pests including whitefly and red spider mite.

Thanks to Maggie Gowland for photographs.