Abutilon 'Boule de Neige'

This floriferous shrub is a treasure. It is fast to establish with luxuriant, evergreen foliage and a heavy covering of snow white bells pretty well year round.

Low maintenance and versatile, Abutilon ‘Boule de Neige’ lends well to either a formal or a tropical setting. The leaves are similar to a maple in form. It has admirable vigour and is trouble free of pests and disease. One makes a nice feature, more could create a dense screen. You could even grow them in pots.

Birds and bees love the flowers and, as an added benefit, we can eat them too, they have a sweet, citrus flavour.

The name, ‘Boule de Neige’ translates from the French, Snowball. Common names for Abutilon include Chinese Lantern, Chinese Bellflower and Flowering Maple. They are endemic to areas of Central and South America, Africa and Australia –this is a hybridised form, which dates back to the 1850’s.

Plant into moderately fertile to humus rich, well drained soil in a full sun to semi shaded position, ideally out of the hot afternoon rays. In too much shade they can be a bit leggy and less handsome than they could be, you will also have less flowers.

They don’t have a super long life (lasting around five years) but they will usually produce offspring in the meantime, to succeed their throne, I have never been left wanting in my garden and don’t have to do a thing to help them on their way. They are fairly tolerant of frost, but don’t like to be frozen.

Water well to establish, as you should with all plants, it takes around four to six weeks for the roots to be able to penetrate the soil and access its hydration and nutrients. So it is ideal to water regularly during that early time. Once established you will only need to water when rainfall is seriously low.

A light prune in winter, when the flowering slows will help keep them bushy and healthy – of course you could always prune more to control their size, they won’t mind a bit. Ideally you could add some fertiliser and mulch in spring to keep them looking good.