These hybrid shrubs have slender upright to arching cane-like stems forming and graceful open habit. It has mid-green lobed leaves and the pendant bell shaped orange to lilac, yellow or pink flowers appearing during summer.

Hardiness zones 9 to 11

Abutilon x hybridum has been cultivated for hundreds of years and the original species is thought to have come from South America growing in sub tropical regions. 

It prefers a well drained organic rich moist soil that is tending acidic with a pH 4.8-5.5 and grows in a wind protected sunny position and is frost and drought tender. 

The Chinese Lantern is grown for its flowers that bob up and down in the wind. It is planted in borders adding a tropical effect to the garden or used containers. It is suitable for coastal regions establishing in 2 to 3 years and is an ideal specimen plant. Rich soil increases growth but produces fewer flowers and leggy plants tend to split as the stems are brittle. It may be pruned hard during early spring to bushy up and encourage flowering. ID 103

Abutilon (a-BEW-ti-lon) x hybridum (HIB-rid-um)

"Abutilon": from the Arabic name for a related plant; "hybridum": of mixed origins.

Malvaceae (mal-VAY-see-ee)
Cotton, Mallows and Hollyhocks