SEATTLE — Fuchsias are popular in hanging baskets, but can also give plentiful splashes of color throughout your garden. Gardening guru Ciscoe Morris explains the secrets to making them thrive.
If you’re looking for an incredibly attractive, easy to grow shrub, that hummingbirds can’t resist, give hardy Fuchsias a try. Unlike the tender shade loving Fuchsias that come in hanging baskets, hardy Fuchsias survive outdoors year round. These tough shrubs feature attractive colorful flowers that come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, and bloom non-stop from late-May until well after thanksgiving. The flowers hang in clusters along the tip of the branches, and are composed of the calyx, the outer section made up of sepals, (modified leaves that cover the bud) and the corolla, consisting of interior petals that form a tube.
Most hardy Fuchsias originate in South America, although there are species from New Zealand and Tahiti as well. The hardiest Fuchsias are hybrids of Fuchsia magellanica native to Chile and Argentina. Easily surviving temperatures down to zero degrees, these Fuchsias are referred to as ladies eardrops, because the narrow (1 ½ inch long) bicolored flowers resemble little jeweled ear rings. The flowers may be small, but there are so many of them, they put on a dazzling display irresistible to both gardeners and hummingbirds. There are hundreds of the smaller flowering varieties to choose from. Although most have red and purple flowers, F. 'Hawkshead' is covered in blossoms of pure white, while the blooms of F. 'Peppermint Stick' are streaked with red and purple. There are varieties with colored foliage as well. ‘Aurea’, has golden foliage and bright red flowers, while Tricolor', sports, grey-green leaves edged in cream to pink with red and purple flowers.
If you’re in the market for a climber, F regia ssp regia is a vine with red and purple flowers that can work its way up to 20 feet tall trained up a fence or trellis.
As attractive as the smaller flowering varieties are, when it comes to putting on a colorful display, the Fuchsias with bigger blossoms are the real standouts. One of the best has to be 'Mrs. ‘Popple'. Completely hardy in the Puget Sound region, this shrub that can reach over 4 ft tall and wide and is covered with inch wide flowers with bright red sepals and violet-purple tubes.
Just as gorgeous with equally large red and dark purple flowers is 'Lady Boothby'. This one is also capable of climbing and can reach over 15 feet tall tied to a trellis.
If you’re into red and have room for an upright shrub that can reach 12 feet tall, give ‘Cardinal’ a place in your garden. It produces masses of inch wide fiery crimson blossoms that hummingbirds find irresistible.
Finally, perhaps the showiest hardy Fuchsia is ‘Double Otto'. The 2 inch wide, double flowers feature deeply flared scarlet sepals with double, dark purple corollas. This one is slightly tender, so mulch heavy over the base in fall.
Plant ‘Double Otto’ for its outrageous beauty rather than to attract hummingbirds. As is often the case in the breeding process, the nectar producing parts were sacrificed to achieve multiple petals.
Although hard pruning can delay blooming, hardy Fuchsias can be cut back right to the ground in spring to create a compact plant. You can forgo pruning but it usually results in crowded twiggy growth with most of the flowers only at the end of the taller branches. After a cold winter, woody growth is often killed back to the ground. Wait to prune off the dead stems until new growth appears at the base. For extra cold tolerance on some of the varieties with larger flowers, plant your hardy Fuchsia 4 inches deeper than it comes out of the pot. Your hardy Fuchsia will bloom better in a sunny location, but avoid extremely hot areas with reflected sunshine. Fertilize with a mix of organic flower food and alfalfa meal every 6 weeks beginning in early May. Then sit back and watch the hummingbirds flitter about in a mad frenzy as they try to decide which Fuchsia to visit first.
Here is a list of the hardy Fuchsias I showed on today's show:
Fuchsia 'Queen Esther'
This hardy, shrubby cultivar has escaped from hanging baskets and taken its rightful place in the border. Pale pink sepals and magenta-purple corollas shine summer to frost.
- Part Shade, Shade
- H: 3-4' W: 3'
- Zone 7: 0 to 10 degrees F
Fuchsia erecta
Charming pale pink and white flowers sit upright, like tiny cups & saucers, on the branches of this stiffly upright small herbaceous shrub, summer to fall. Long-blooming and easy to grow it's a hummingbird favorite.
- Part Shade, Shade
- H: 3' W: 2'
- Zone 7: 0 to 10 degrees F
Fuchsia hybrida 'Debrons Smokey Blue'
Double blooms have bright magenta sepals that reveal corollas the color similar to that of purple eggplant. Great for containers and mixed beds when combined with lime and chartreuse.
- Part Shade, Shade
- H: 30" W: 18"
- Zone 7: 0 to 10 degrees F
Fuchsia 'Delta's Groom'
Sweet single blooms with recurved deep pink sepals and rich dark purple corollas. This small upright form is perfect for smaller gardens.
- Part Shade, Shade
- H: 12-16" W: 12-16"
- Zone 8: 10 to 20 degrees F
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