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Gulture of Favorite Plants. 
1, ,ABUPILON. 
02. S 6 
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Ais amma iment) ELONGING to the Mallow family, the Abutilons 
are frequently called Strawberry-bells because of a 
resemblance between the flowers of some of the earlier 
varieties and the common strawberries. They are also 
sometimes called Flowering Maples, from a similarity 
in the shape of the leaves to those of the Maple. The 
leaves are wonderfully varied in color and markings, 
being of a bright golden yellow in some varieties, and 
white mixed with yellow in others, while some few 
are beautifully ornamented by green, white or yellow 
blotches, constituting a sort of picturesque vegetable 
mosaic. The A. Thompsonii, so called after the great 
English collector of that name, who introduced the 
variety from Japan, retain their bright colors and well- 
defined markings during even the hottest weather. They are especially adapted to our 
Southern States, where they attain immense proportions, growing from ten to fifteen feet 
high and spreading laterally to a corresponding extent. They are also not inappropriate 
to northern culture, through their accommodating habit, as they may be kept in an ordi- 
nary cellar over winter, with occasional waterings to prevent the soil from becoming 
entirely dry. The stems are slender, and those of the smaller ones can be trained to form 
a pretty window-screen, or to assume an umbrella-like or other fancy shape to suit the 
taste of the cultivator. They should be grown in a rich, sandy soil; and, as has been inti- 
mated, they will thrive in or out of doors, though all will be the better for a partial 
shading when planted outside. This can be the most easily secured by setting them to 
the north of a fence, an evergreen or a shrub somewhat higher than themselves. They 
make an abundance of small roots near the stem, and, being what gardeners term gross 
feeders, they should have plenty of liquid manure during their season of growth and 
bloom. They flower freely during the winter and spring months in about sixty degrees 
of heat, and some varieties continue to flower all summer when properly cared for. In 
removing Abutilons indoors on the approach of winter, from the beds or borders where 
they have been resting, it is best to anticipate a little, that they may have time to make a 
few rootlets in their new abode before the cold weather is fairly upon them. 
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