Flowering-maple 'Gold Dust' is a semi-tropical shrub from the mallow family, native to Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, celebrated for its distinctive golden-speckled foliage and lantern-like orange flowers threaded with delicate red veins. Hardy in zones 9 to 10, this evergreen reaches 4 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet wide depending on climate, blooming generously from May through October. The showy, bell-shaped flowers dangle from thin stalks in a lengthy season that rewards consistent care with continuous color, while its variegated leaves provide visual interest long after blooms fade.
Partial Sun
Moderate
9-10
120in H x 60in W
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High
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The 'Gold Dust' cultivar earns its name from foliage mottled with golden variegation, a feature that becomes most vibrant in full sun but requires afternoon shade relief in hot climates to prevent wilting. Orange flowers with thin red veining hang like miniature lanterns throughout the warm months, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds that find the pendulous blooms irresistible. In zones 9 to 10, it behaves as a permanent landscape shrub; in colder regions, gardeners treat it as a patio container specimen, bringing it indoors as temperatures approach the mid-50s in fall.
Flowering-maple 'Gold Dust' serves primarily as an ornamental shrub, valued for seasonal flower displays and year-round foliage interest in garden beds and mixed borders throughout zones 9 to 10. In cooler climates, it thrives as a summer container plant for patios and terraces, brought indoors before frost to extend its life as a houseplant. The showy blooms and nectar-rich flowers also make it a deliberate choice for gardeners cultivating butterfly and hummingbird gardens.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
In zones 9 to 10, transplant into the ground after soil has warmed in spring. In colder climates, grow in containers that can be moved indoors; harden off patio plants gradually before placing them outside in late spring after frost danger passes.
Pinch the stem tips of younger plants to promote bushiness and stronger, more compact growth, since the plant's natural tendency is toward weak, leggy stems. Prune to shape and control size as needed in late winter or early spring before the growing season begins.
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“Abutilon pictum belongs to a large and diverse genus within the mallow family, with species originating across tropical and subtropical regions of South America. The genus gained prominence among European gardeners in the 18th and 19th centuries as plant exploration expanded, and hybridization efforts eventually produced the popular Abutilon × hybridum crosses that dominate modern cultivation. The 'Gold Dust' selection represents the ongoing refinement of these genetics, bred specifically for the combination of variegated foliage and ornamental flower color that makes it a sought-after accent shrub in warm-climate gardens.”