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That is an Abutilon. Also commonly known as flowering maple, but it's not related to maple, it is a member of the mallow family, as is hibiscus which has similar leaves. Here are pictures of some of the different kinds of abutilons and abutilon hybrids along with variations in leaf shapes.
I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, you have planted it much too close to the building.
No, it's okay, abutilon trees and shrubs stay pretty small and have small root systems. That one pictured in OP's photos of his grandmother's tree was probably about as big as it would have ever gotten in it's life time in that partly shaded location.
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That is an Abutilon. Also commonly known as flowering maple, but it's not related to maple, it is a member of the mallow family, as is hibiscus which has similar leaves. Here are pictures of some of the different kinds of abutilons and abutilon hybrids along with variations in leaf shapes.
Excellent suggestion. Thanks for that one. The similarities are rather strong:
Just one thing to point though, the flowering maple has roundish heart-shaped leaves, whereas my cutting has leaves that don't 'bend' or arch near the nodes (the back), and seem more like "fish-shaped".
Quote:
Originally Posted by WouldLoveTo
The flowering tree in your link is a ROS. My app ID'd your second pic as a ROS, the first one came up as a maple leaf viburnum.
I hope it's not a mulberry, those are evil!! They also grow a lot quicker than a ROS.
I'm beginning to doubt that it's a mulberry. They have thicker leaves, and they grow quicker as you said -- I actually planted a mulberry cutting at the same I planted this one (18 months ago), and now it's already 5'4 tall!
Excellent suggestion. Thanks for that one. The similarities are rather strong:
Just one thing to point though, the flowering maple has roundish heart-shaped leaves, whereas my cutting has leaves that don't 'bend' or arch near the nodes (the back), and seem more like "fish-shaped".
I'm beginning to doubt that it's a mulberry. They have thicker leaves, and they grow quicker as you said -- I actually planted a mulberry cutting at the same I planted this one (18 months ago), and now it's already 5'4 tall!
Re: the leaves, if it's a variety of abutilon (aka flowering maple) and anything like the ones I've had the leaves are going to change their shapes as the plant matures and becomes sturdier and bigger. You will also have to look at the shapes of the flowers when they start being produced, because although they are similar to the flowers of Rose of Sharon and other hibiscus species, they are not all identical, and the colours are different too with abutilon coming in a vast range of colours. So you will need to make comparisons with the flowers too. Right now your plant is still immature because it's only an 18 months old sapling that started out as a cutting, it's still a relative 'juvenile' (even though it came from a mature mother) so it's still growing the rather fish shaped juvenile leaves that typically start off on new wood growth. But watch it next spring/summer when it's 2+ years old, and in following years, as it continues to mature and grow bushy outwards as well as upwards it will start producing newer and larger 'adult' leaves on old growth wood and those leaves will have pronounced, distinct points on them that make the leaves look similar to hearts with points or distinctly like some kinds of maple leaves.
It's because of the maple shaped leaves that it got the common name flowering "maple" even though it isn't a maple, it's in the same Malvaceae family as Rose of Sharon / other hibiscus species, okra, cotton, all the mallows, and they all produce unique leaves. Some have leaves that look like lace, and there's even one that grows leaves that look exactly like brilliant scarlet coloured marijuana leaves. The Abutilon will still also produce the smaller fish shaped leaves on new growth wood as well but they will get more maple-like points on them too as the plant continues to mature. So just watch to see how the leaves develop for the next couple of years. When you start seeing more of the bigger maple shaped leaves being produced on previous years wood growth you'll know your cutting has finally developed a well established healthy root system and is becoming an adult.
I've grown them outdoors in the ground in sunny or part sun/part shade corner locations protected from wind as well as keeping them as houseplants in large pots kept indoors permanently. The ones that grow outdoors behave like deciduous perennials, they will lose their leaves and go dormant for winter then start new growth again in the spring. They are small and shallow rooted plants so need to be very well mulched for winter to protect the roots from freezing. But the ones kept indoors as houseplants will continue to grow and produce new leaves and blooms right through the whole year if they get plenty of bright light at a sunny window. The indoor plants slow down a bit in their overall growth during winter because of shorter daylight hours and then they'll put on a big burst of growth again towards spring as the days get longer.
Re: the leaves, if it's a variety of abutilon (aka flowering maple) and anything like the ones I've had the leaves are going to change their shapes as the plant matures and becomes sturdier and bigger. You will also have to look at the shapes of the flowers when they start being produced, because although they are similar to the flowers of Rose of Sharon and other hibiscus species, they are not all identical, and the colours are different too with abutilon coming in a vast range of colours. So you will need to make comparisons with the flowers too. Right now your plant is still immature because it's only an 18 months old sapling that started out as a cutting, it's still a relative 'juvenile' (even though it came from a mature mother) so it's still growing the rather fish shaped juvenile leaves that typically start off on new wood growth. But watch it next spring/summer when it's 2+ years old, and in following years, as it continues to mature and grow bushy outwards as well as upwards it will start producing newer and larger 'adult' leaves on old growth wood and those leaves will have pronounced, distinct points on them that make the leaves look similar to hearts with points or distinctly like some kinds of maple leaves.
It's because of the maple shaped leaves that it got the common name flowering "maple" even though it isn't a maple, it's in the same Malvaceae family as Rose of Sharon / other hibiscus species, okra, cotton, all the mallows, and they all produce unique leaves. Some have leaves that look like lace, and there's even one that grows leaves that look exactly like brilliant scarlet coloured marijuana leaves. The Abutilon will still also produce the smaller fish shaped leaves on new growth wood as well but they will get more maple-like points on them too as the plant continues to mature. So just watch to see how the leaves develop for the next couple of years. When you start seeing more of the bigger maple shaped leaves being produced on previous years wood growth you'll know your cutting has finally developed a well established healthy root system and is becoming an adult.
I've grown them outdoors in the ground in sunny or part sun/part shade corner locations protected from wind as well as keeping them as houseplants in large pots kept indoors permanently. The ones that grow outdoors behave like deciduous perennials, they will lose their leaves and go dormant for winter then start new growth again in the spring. They are small and shallow rooted plants so need to be very well mulched for winter to protect the roots from freezing. But the ones kept indoors as houseplants will continue to grow and produce new leaves and blooms right through the whole year if they get plenty of bright light at a sunny window. The indoor plants slow down a bit in their overall growth during winter because of shorter daylight hours and then they'll put on a big burst of growth again towards spring as the days get longer.
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Thanks for the beautiful info. Much appreciated.
Our winters here in Sydney barely hit 0C/32F. Maybe 2-3 nights a year we would get temps close to freezing or around 0C. So we are on the safe side.
Despite this, my Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock flower) usually dies back in the winter. So much for it being a 'perennial' plant in our zone.
..... Despite this, my Mirabilis Jalapa (Four O'Clock flower) usually dies back in the winter. So much for it being a 'perennial' plant in our zone.
Four O'Clocks are deciduous perennials, not evergreen perennials, they're supposed to die back in the winter. I guess it depends on what zone you're in for them to behave like annuals or perennials but under normal growing conditions for those plants they usually grow back in the spring from their underground tubers even if the plants don't re-seed themselves. As a matter of fact, again depending on the zone, those tubers can spread and spread underground then the Four O'Clocks are noted for becoming terribly invasive because of the tubers. Here is my own experience with that.
I'm in zone 9b and when I first moved into this highrise building it was winter and apparently nobody had been looking after the grounds for about 5 years and they were all a terrible mess. So I asked the managers for permission to clean up the grounds and do the gardening. They gladly gave permission and what I didn't know at the time was that a few years before I moved in one of the other residents in the highrise had thought it would be nice to buy some packages of Four O'Clock seeds and simply scatter them around the building, and she did so indiscriminately. She had no idea what she had wrought for the grounds when she did that!
The covering snows melted at the end of February and revealed the true state of affairs. There were Four O'Clocks popping up everywhere as soon as the snow was gone! A couple of the 'wannabee' garden beds in the grounds on the south side of the property that had old ornamental flowering shrubs and small trees in them were so badly infested and choked up with Four O'Clocks and their tubers it was like a jungle. The shrubs and trees were all in a very sorry state and dying because of the crowding and competition and depletion of space, light, water and nutrients that they had been enduring for a few years. It took me three years to eradicate all the Four O'clock plants and tubers, some tubers had even spread underground out to the middles of the lawns and the plants were popping up there too. Anyway, they're all gone now from around the entire building, no sign of them in the past 4 years and I will never plant Four O'Clocks anywhere after seeing how much work they can cause and what an invasive disaster they can become in my zone and microclimate.
Oh, even in perfect growing conditions Four O'Clocks are self-seeding annuals.
You mean even in the tropics they can or may still die back (perhaps in some years)?
I am in zone 10a (or 10b in some years). And the last Four O'Clock in my garden would finally stop flowering by early June, and would die back in late June. Weirdly, the larger and lusher Four O'Clock with the most abundant flowers would go yellow and die back as early as April, and April is pretty warm here (odd). Sources usually say they die back when the first frost appears, except we don't even get frost in early June (let alone April), nor temps close to freezing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoisite
Four O'Clocks are deciduous perennials, not evergreen perennials, they're supposed to die back in the winter. I guess it depends on what zone you're in for them to behave like annuals or perennials but under normal growing conditions for those plants they usually grow back in the spring from their underground tubers even if the plants don't re-seed themselves. As a matter of fact, again depending on the zone, those tubers can spread and spread underground then the Four O'Clocks are noted for becoming terribly invasive because of the tubers. Here is my own experience with that..
Interesting. Never heard of these distinctions. What's the difference between deciduous and perennial evergreens? And how do they differ from annuals?
Yeah, in my zone (10a/b), they always die back, which is strange because I thought they are not supposed to die back in my zone. Coleuses too, but it's usually my ones that die back, oddly. My aunt, who lives just a suburb way, has coleuses (they're cuttings of mine's actually) and they never die back in the winter. I've seen a few potted ones in my street that are alive and well in the winter. Just my ones seem to die back. Maybe my coleuses are small in size compared to theirs and that may be the reason? It's pretty mysterious to me.
Quote:
I'm in zone 9b and when I first moved into this highrise building it was winter and apparently nobody had been looking after the grounds for about 5 years and they were all a terrible mess. So I asked the managers for permission to clean up the grounds and do the gardening. They gladly gave permission and what I didn't know at the time was that a few years before I moved in one of the other residents in the highrise had thought it would be nice to buy some packages of Four O'Clock seeds and simply scatter them around the building, and she did so indiscriminately. She had no idea what she had wrought for the grounds when she did that!
The covering snows melted at the end of February and revealed the true state of affairs. There were Four O'Clocks popping up everywhere as soon as the snow was gone! A couple of the 'wannabee' garden beds in the grounds on the south side of the property that had old ornamental flowering shrubs and small trees in them were so badly infested and choked up with Four O'Clocks and their tubers it was like a jungle. The shrubs and trees were all in a very sorry state and dying because of the crowding and competition and depletion of space, light, water and nutrients that they had been enduring for a few years. It took me three years to eradicate all the Four O'clock plants and tubers, some tubers had even spread underground out to the middles of the lawns and the plants were popping up there too. Anyway, they're all gone now from around the entire building, no sign of them in the past 4 years and I will never plant Four O'Clocks anywhere after seeing how much work they can cause and what an invasive disaster they can become in my zone and microclimate..
This makes me regret planting them in my garden bed, as I have some nice shrubs there. I had heard that they are pretty invasive. But the thing is, I really enjoy them. I love how the scent of their flowers and how long-lasting their blooms can be.
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