It must be the loss of grey matter for me also. I stumbled upon this tip by accident. I forgot to bring the two large potted Abutilon indoors for the winter 2 years ago. Imagine my surprise when I went to clean the pot out to replant and found live stems.
I pruned it back and slowly started giving it water and set it where it would get morning sun. And this is what it did.
I wouldn't try it with an much loved/expensive plant without back up starts, but some times we learn wonderful things about the hardiness of our plants.
