This Abutilon or parlor maple, or flowering maple, whichever you prefer, has probably appeared on Bloom Day more often than any other plant. It is almost always in bloom. I put it outdoors on the shady piazza for the summer, but it spends most of the year in my upstairs bedroom by a west window, but the room is bright with two big south windows. The temperature may occasionally get close to 70 degrees on a winter day, but nighttime temperatures will go down to 50 degrees. It does not seem to mind. The only problem I have with my abutilon is regular infestations with scale. I have used insecticidal soap with good results.
My angel wing begonia carries on year after year but never turns into a lush plant with generous and graceful flowers. It is happier growing outside on the piazza than indoors.
It looks like the Thanksgiving cactus, Schlumbergera truncata, will be blooming right on schedule. I have Christmas cactus too, and it will be blooming as well. You can see I am not a real houseplant person. I have a house with a lot of windows, but I don’t seem to have a good place to keep houseplants in natural light. Thanksgiving cactus is one of the most popular search terms used by people who find my blog. The Thanksgiving cactus gives me many reasons to be thankful, dependability, bloom, and new friends.
I traipsed around the garden to see if there was any bloom there at all, but this was all I found. The last rosebud of summer. I think the season of greens is just about upon us.
Log on to May Dreams Gardens and see what else is in bloom. I can’t thank Carol enough for this nudge to keep a good bloom record all year long.
Ever since we insulated the upstairs, I have had trouble getting Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus to bloom. No cold bedrooms anymore! They only set buds on the side closest to the window glass, and not many at that.
Kathy – No lack of cold bedrooms in my house.
I could not remember the name of Abutilon and saw it right away on your post, Thanks. I linked to you today because of that.
My Christmas cactus is blooming too. I should have moved inside like you for color and blooms. Outside is brown and black, with a few fresh blooms here and there.
I do hope that rosebud gets a chance to bloom! I noticed how glossy green the leaves on my Knockouts were, but I didn’t see a single bud. I don’t have many houseplants at all, either, but I finally found the perfect space for them once my daughter moved out:)
Pat, Bloom Day does get to be a celebration of the familiar and lovely on winter days! I don’t do houseplants but, the abutilon tempts me! GBBD always makes my garden plant list swell! Being in zone 7, I can usually have some bloom most of the winter~thank you hybridizers for all the colorful violas! gail
Donna – Probably the next flowers I will have will be frost flowers.
Rose – It would be nice to have a rose blooming in November. Those knockouts are workhorses.
Gail – I do recommend the abutilon. A friend of mine got hers to grow taller, and she had yellow blossoms.
Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. Abutilon is so pretty, I never heard of a blooming maple. It’s lovely. Does it get big, like tree like? I love your blooming cactus too. My mom has had a Christmas cactus for over a decade and it always blooms right during Christmas time. I love those plants.
Your houseplants look great. I’m still struggling with keeping mine alive inside over the winter.
Hi Pat,
My comments aren’t showing up on my GBBD post. I didn’t think to check my other posts. I did quit Firefox, and restart it, but that didn’t help.
I enjoyed seeing your blooms. I haven’t heard of abutilon. I have several kinds of angel wing begonias. They don’t have lots of blooms at a time normally, and I have trouble getting them bushy, too. I have to trim them back on a regular basis. You saw my holiday cactus. I’m pleased with how well it does. It even bloomed in the spring.
What a nice collection of house plant blooms. None I brought in this year will probably bloom. Happy GBBD.
I’ve just brought my begonias in for the winter too! My abutilons, however, stay out since they are in the ground. They have survived winters with night time temps in the 30s although 40s are the norm. We might be on opposite sides of the country but we have some similarities!
meemsnyc – My abutilon never gets taller than three feet tall, but a fried’s did get bigger. They are not ‘trees’ in the usual sense of the word.
MMD – Any houseplant I have is really sturdy.
Sue – Those holiday cactuses are great plants! Sometimes I get blossoms out of season too.
Lisa – I have a jasmine that is supposed to bloom indoors in winter – but it barely makes it through. Nice foliage though.
Leslie – Abutilons in the ground! I’m glad I didn’t say these are definitely houseplants.
Those roses just carry on don’t they? Love the angel wing and I have a few of the parlor maples also. Enjoy the week. More Indian Summer please.
Love that begonia, my grandma gave me a slip of one just like that once…I think it’s still alive at my parents’ house!
Layanee – You are so optimistic!
Scott – I think some plants are simply immortal.
Your Thanksgiving cactus made me smile as we know it as Christmas cactus over here.
Hope your Thanksgiving celebrations went well 🙂
VP – Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus look very similar, but they are actually two different varieties. I have Christmas cactus setting buds now, that will open in about a month.