Little Beauty, "A very dwarf grower, having a short, compact, symmetrical bush, which is completely covered with its medium-sized but well-shaped flowers, of a very light salmon color, beautifully veined with rosy carmine. It blooms in clusters and when in full bloom makes a remarkably fine appearance. A cross between Rosaflora and Darwinii."
N. B. Stover, "A low, compact grower. Flowers large and well-formed, almost covering the bush; color, rich ponceau, finely veined with carmine. A decided novelty, being a new color among Abutilons."
Dr. Rapples. "Light orange salmon, veined with crimson. One of the most attractive in the set."
A new Abutilon, a decided novelty in color, comes to us from "The Home for Flowers," Swanley, England, sent with other choice plants by Henry Cannell & Son. It is thus described in his Floral Guide:
Firefly (Swanley Red). By far the highest and brightest color of all the family; habit dwarf, and one of the freest bloomers, throwing flowers out on strong foot stalks of the finest shape; certainly one of the noblest, and when grown in a pot it flowers all the winter, and all the summer when planted out, and forms one of the best flowering shrubs that we possess.
Parentage of this Flower.—Mr. George states that he sometime since flowered a small red variety, which had a very lively shade of color, and determining to make this a seed parent, it occurred to him to use on it the pollen of the single deep color Hibiscas, which, like the Abutilon, is included in the natural order Malvaceæ. Mr. George thinks the fine color seen in his new variety, Firefly, is due to this happy inspiration of color.
The Gardener's Chronicle has this paragraph respecting Firefly: A red Abutilon, one of a batch of recent seedlings raised by Mr. J. George of Putney Heath, well deserves the foregoing appellation. The flowers are of large size and of a much greater depth and vividness of color than that possessed by any variety in the Chiswick collection. It has been provisionally named Firefly, and we believe the stock has passed into the hands of H. Cannell & Son, of Swanley, for distribution.
A writer in Vick's Magazine describes a method of training the Abutilon that must, we think, be a very attractive one.
"A pretty plant may be obtained by inarching Abutilon Mesopotamicum upon Abutilon Darwinii, or some other strong-growing variety, and training it so as form an umbrella head, which can easily be done. The stock for this purpose should be about five or six feet high. Grown in this way it produces an abundance of bloom, and the flowers being elevated are seen in all their beauty. If Abutilon Mesopotamicum is inarched upon Abutilon Thompsonii, the result will be Abutilon Mesopotamicum Variegatum. A well-formed plant of this on a stock about five feet high is one of the finest of plants; whether in blossom or not it is always adapted for decorative or exhibition purposes. Care must be taken at all times to keep them tied to stakes, as they are liable to be broken off by the wind."
Abutilons are apt to be infested by the red spider, if kept in too dry an atmosphere, and not frequently sprayed. Moisture is death to this pest, but as it makes its home on the under side of the leaf, it is too often overlooked until it has destroyed the vitality of the foliage. Recently I found that my large Duc de Malakoff looked sickly, and I concluded it had become root-bound. A few days later, I noticed brown spots thickly covering the bark. I removed one, and on examining the under side through a microscope, I saw several tiny insects moving about. I decided that my plant was troubled with the scale of which I had often read, but never seen. I made a pretty strong solution of soap-suds, and with a sponge quite easily removed all of the pests.