Bella Red Flowering Maple
Abutilon 'Bella Red'
Height: 6 feet
Spread: 6 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: (annual)
Other Names: Chinese Bellflower, Indian Mallow, Parlor Maple
Description:
This indoor or outdoor variety produces stunning, tomato-red flowers with orange centers; lantern-like buds open to pendulous bell-to-cup blooms year round; green maple-like leaves are often variegated with yellow and white; attracts hummingbirds
Ornamental Features
Bella Red Flowering Maple features bold tomato-orange bell-shaped flowers with orange eyes along the branches from early spring to late winter. Its attractive lobed palmate leaves remain green in color with showy yellow variegation and tinges of white throughout the year.
Landscape Attributes
Bella Red Flowering Maple is a multi-stemmed annual with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.
This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Bella Red Flowering Maple is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- Mass Planting
- Hedges/Screening
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting
Planting & Growing
Bella Red Flowering Maple will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
Bella Red Flowering Maple is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
