We love the south Brazilian native, Abutilion megapotamicum, which as you can see, is looking absolutely fabulous in the garden. This amazing plant makes a towering stack of thin branches, each laden with hundreds of bright red calyces above the yellow bell-shaped flowers. This abutilon dies back to the ground when our winter temperatures drop below 10-15 degrees F in the winter, we cut it back to the ground in spring, and it quickly regrows to 6′ tall x 10′ wide. For years, we grew this in light shade, where it produces a few flowers, but it’s dramatically better in full, baking sun, where it attracts an amazing number of hummingbirds. Many references are now using its new name, Callianthe megapotamica.
