It would have been helpful to see a photo of the entire plant. I wonder if it could be Abutilon ?

I'm never good at identifying photos, but it might be a Fremontodendron. Google for pix.

Are you sure you have the sizes correct? That does not look like Fremontodendron foliage to me; Fremontodendron leaves are rough and lobed. If you hadn't listed sizes, I'd id it as Pavonia praemorsa, which matches in foliage and flower. But the leaf size for Pavonia is much smaller, and the flowers are only about 1" or so across.

ok it is 12:30 am, so I was trying to photograph my Pavonia's foliage using a flashlight, and of course the flowers are not open....but for comparison:

Hmmm....agree it could be Abutilon. Do the flowers look like little hanging lanterns before opening...like this?

Neither the flower nor the leaf shape are compatible with abutilon. Agree with gyr_falcon's Pavonia praemorsa, aka yellow mallow.

My apologies all (carol23, JXBrown, Colwynn, floral_uk, chloebud)! Did not have phone with me when I saw this plant. I will get a shot of the shrub, was not sure if I would get back to that area. Thanks everyone for input, I will do my part with more details. I am leaning toward it being Pavonia praemorsa @gyr_falcon. I will upload a photo of entire plant within the next hour.

New photos attached! Apologies to all for not getting them the other day.

Definitely looks like the Pavonia praemorsa mentioned from the pix I see online. If you're ever interested, abutilon are nice, too. :-)

thanks! I've been waiting for an Abutilonx hybridum 'Vesuvius Red' to go to seed at the local garden, it is taking forever!

Yes, it is Pavonia, and a happy-looking one at that! Mine tend to be put into harsh growing conditions, so the leaves and flowers probably remain smaller. I've found that the native metallic green sweat bees like the flowers. Pavonia is probably easy from seed also, since I used to have a few seedlings show up near the parent plant every year.

Spelling is Pavonia. as in 2 posts back

Sorry. Sometimes I spelled it correctly, sometimes not. I'll edit.

Regarding the Abutilon. You would do better with cuttings or a named plant. Seed will not necessarily look like the parent. Although it will probably still be quite nice.

Yes I have quite a few Abutilon seedlings that are way different from the parents. In one case, I have a seedling of 'Dwarf Red' that has orange flowers, but otherwise looks just like 'Dwarf Red'. That's kinda fun I think.

Uffa, I suppose that I'll get something new then from those seeds as Sara Malone has done (if they are pollinated properly for seeds). I can try to get cuttings perhaps for both scenarios floral_uk, 'tis better to be safe than sorry. :D