Heat Hardy Fuchsias

There seems to be two camps. Those of us looking for fuchsias which can survive the cold and those of us looking for fuchsias which can survive the heat. Not that we need to be divided here though! It is just the way information out there tends to be found. I am hoping to compile better lists that combine several of the attributes people have asked me about. It would be nice to have a list that tells us which varieties of fuchsias are both cold and heat hardy.
Due to the current heat wave in my area, I will be looking to see which ones in my collection have sustained damage and how severe that damage is or isn't.
For instance, I think PNWMountainGirl will be happy to hear that if her mystery fuchsia is indeed Charlie Girl, this is one in my collection which has no evidence of any damage at all so far! And it is next to ones which have had all of their blossoms burned at least a bit.
Here are another two which are proving to be able to brave temps up to 104 in the full sun.
Chang is the orange one and the other is Gordon's China Rose.

Three more heat champions! Billie Green, Orange Crush, and Wendy's Beauty. Not a single singed flower, not a single burned leaf on these three. Billie Green is not one of my favorites, but he is certainly a strong grower. He is twice the size of the others I bought at the same time this spring. Here's a picture of him.

I want to make a note here about fuchsias in the heat. At least upright fuchsias in large containers or in the ground that are established. In other words, you didn't just plant them.
If it is really hot and they are slightly wilted and the soil is moist, don't panic!
The majority of the time, all you need to do is be patient and wait for it to cool off. In the morning you will see they are fine with no evidence they were ever thinking of wilting!
If you are deeply concerned and can't move them into the shade, you can put an umbrella or other cover over them for shade that will also allow air flow.
Also, checking to see if your plants need water in the morning can be very deceiving. Soil can appear moist on the surface and the moment the sun comes out, you discover it is actually dry. If it is going to be a hot sunny day and your plants have good drainage, it is better to give them water before it gets hot and sunny. Excess water will drain away and the plant will have time to absorb what it needs to deal with the temps as they rise.
I've seen my hardy upright fuchsias recover from heat that fried the blossoms on my roses. And we all know roses need sunshine to grow well!

Here are two more heat champions! Deltas Groom and my old fashioned favorite, Vinegar Joe! When I first started collecting fuchsias. There were three I knew I had to have first, as I had such good memories of them. All three are uprights, heat and cold hardy, and have the little simple dainty flowers I love the most. F. magallanica alba, Vinegar Joe, and Mrs. J. D. Fredricks.
Here is Deltas Groom yesterday.

And here is good old Vinegar Joe. Trying to get over the fence into the neighbors yard!

Seems VJ is having a peek at what goes on over there!

Does it get hot in the summer up where you are Katye? Are you on the coast, or inland? Do you have fuchsias that live out in the sun and the heat? What varieties do you grow?

Hot is a relative term in this area! Our summers typically are not known for the amount of heat required to have a reliable tomato/pepper/Eggplant/melon harvest.
West of the Cascade range & nearer Seattle, the weather is such that we don't build up heat units like most places. The northern maritime climate is fickle & it's pretty much a crapshoot each year.

Hot - let's see...for me that is 90° plus, which I like. I seem to be in the minority, though. Hot to many is 75°. HOWEVER...I feel that those of us who grow warm-season food crops deserve 3 months of 80° plus. The rest of the population here can enjoy their cooler temps the remaining 9 months. At least that seems fair. By the way, I am a native Washingtonian and my tolerance for Grey Skies R US is waning. Boy, I am whining!

I lost my hardies 2 winters ago. But my survivor is doing well. I wish to increase the usage of hardies here: I am a certified shrub Geek. Need more.....
They seem to like my soil - rich & well-drained. But not the winter woes of freeze-thaw. I am up on a plateau, east of Seattle, exposed to the SE winds & storms that bear down on us during the Winter. My property has more areas of sun than shade, so siting can be a challenge, as I make attempts at shielding plants from the late afternoon sun.
It was not easy to locate hardy Fuchsias until the past few years - not much offered locally, and we do have awesome nurseries here. I think they are becoming more popular, and they will fit nicely on the smaller lots that many homes are built on these days.
By the way - I would love to locate an orangey-red one. Any suggestions?

Katye, I wrote a short list of my favorites yesterday and then lost my internet connection. So here I go again ;-)
Gartenmeister is NOT one of my favorites, but it is one tough plant! Billie Green is more interesting to me, but just barely, ha, ha! I don't know why, I just don't like that reddish foliage they both have.
Here are a few more: Chang, Coachman, Thomasina, Anita, Sylvia Barker, Sundial, Torch, Amigo, Waltz Bella, Orange Crush, there are actually quite a few. I am more into blue, but becuase one doesn't tend to think of orange when one thinks of fuchsias, I tend to collect them when I see one.
Have you tried doing a search in the Plant Files which includes the criteria of orange. Just wondering if it is possible to say, ask for all red roses, etc.
Have you checked out the website for the Northwest Fuchsia Society? They have good photos of all their winter hardy fuchsias. And the have a heat hardy list as well.
If I can, this winter, I'd like to make a searchable list that would let us ask for a specific sepal color, corolla color, height, cold hardy, heat hardy, etc.

Thanks much for the suggestions. I believe you had posted a photo of Orange Crush along with another. I have an area that I am dedicating to hot colours - thought a Fuchsia that fit the bill would be great.
I tend toward the blues as well. BUT, since these hardies are little troopers, I must incorporate more into the borders & new areas.
Yes, I did check out the NFS - but I was lazy & thought I would take a shortcut. I am building retaining walls & my time is limited: must finish all of them before November. Yes, it's going to take that long! Rain is coming soon, and less evening light extends the work and i am staff of one!

Ah yes, the waning light! If you aren't concerned about what your neighbors will think, as mine look at me sideways, you can do as I do. I too, am a staff of one with too much to get done on time. So last winter I went to a sporting goods store and bought one of those cool new LED lights for bicyclers that has an elastic band and goes around your head. It has four light settings, including a pulse one for emergencies. It is also adjustable so you can alter where it is pointing besides the direction your forhead is facing. Like more downwards.
I was suddenly able to garden after work in the winter!!!
Now I even have a spare I keep in my purse because it is SO much better than a flashlight! Hands free light!
Now that it is getting dark sooner, I have been using it again, much to the delight of my two kittens. They love to be outside at night, but don't feel secure unless I am out there with them.
I wonder what kind of fuchsia this is going to be......

This message was edited Sep 20, 2009 10:10 AM

Forgot photo!

Here are new photos of Billie Green and Wendy's Beauty, hot weather champions.

And I expected all of the fuchsias with white to have damaged flowers, just because any white flower tends to show damage easier. My Iced-Champagne fuchsia had all of it's flowers fried, but the foliage did fine and the bush is putting out a mass of new flower buds. I digress, here is Wendy's Beauty, not a single scar on her! And she is just a few week away from Iced Champagne.

I have a headlamp, PC - love it! So do the night bugs, LOL. Makes for some interesting encounters.

Ha, ha, yes they do! But it is worth it! Last night the kittens and I were playing out on the lawn. The Jerusalem Artichokes are dying down and one provided an eight foot long toy to drag around!!

Here is a late September photo of my Duchess of Albany after our heat wave!
This one is in a 15 gallon container and gets full sun for several hours at mid-day. Then fruit trees shade it in the afternoon. There were allot of old fried blossoms I had to pick off, but as you can see, it didn't stop blooming.

This little heat champion is called Amber Rose. And to be honest, for the first year, I really didn't like this one. I was very disappointed that I had accidently bought a fuchsia that obviously wasn't an upright. I put her away in a corner and tried to forget about her except when I was watering.
Then one day I decided to give her a chance and moved her into a 10 gallon container out into the full sun.
Now I just love this little one! She is always covered with little blossoms. I think she'd make an incredible bonsai. The little leaves remind me of the carved jade bonsai sculptures you see sometimes. So I am going to try that next spring with some cuttings I've got going for her.
I took this photo on this week-end and as you can see, there isn't a fried blossom on her from the September heat wave.
I also have a cinderblock retaining wall and I plant things in the holes, like strawberries. I might put some of Amber Rose into a few of those holes so it can cascade over the sides. Or even use it as a ground cover on my gravel hillside.
I would imagine that other trailing types of fuchsias would be good in something like that and it would enable them to have larger root systems to deal with the heat.

Forgot the photo of Amber Rose!

Lovely! Especially that Amber Rose. I like the way she drapes and flows. : - )
I've noticed that my fuchsia babies need some shade during the hottest part of the day, but otherwise do well, as long as I am home to water them.
However, had good luck with a variety called Cardinal and another called Lycoides. Both were able to survive the neglect or overloving they were given during my absences during the summer.
I have great hopes for the ones I will be planting this spring.
I'll keep you posted.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Here is a photo of my Cardinal bush. Of all the bushes I have in 15 gallon containers, I was worried the most about how this one would handle the heat because I've allowed him to get way, way to big for his container. But he is just so stunning! And right outside the back door! I haven't been able to bring myself to cut all of this red off!
Even though he is next to a fence, the sun in the late summer, when it gets really hot here, hits him full on until sundown. Some flowers did get fried in the heat, but he got over it pretty quick and replaced them all. This was taken this morning.

Wowser, PC! Someday I hope my Cardinal Fuchsia's look so good. They'll have to take the heat in the summer with full sun. What kind of area do you think that giant Cardinal would take up if planted in the ground? Don't want to plant it too close to that ugly propane tank. Yours looks pretty tall too! I'm guessing about 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall right now? Boy, do I have fuchsia envy! ; - )
Just inspiring me to get mine well settled, come spring planting.
Thanks for all the photos, they look great. : - )
WIB,
SW

Hi SW, Trying to figure out how tall an upright fuchsia is supposed to be able to get has been an adventure. Since I do cut mine and use them in floral arrangements, plus I do try to keep them from outgrowing their containers, there are many I think could get much bigger.
This Cardinal is only 1.5 years old. It was just a cutting in April of 2007. And the sources I have found for heights of individual varieties, is from up north where they wouldn't get as tall as they could in our zone. You and I are basically in the same zone. Isn't that funny? Because I am sure I have more foggy days that you. And I am certain you have more hot dry wind than I do. Not like either of those would have much of an impact on a plant, right? ;-D
I bet that once he gets a good trunk on him, he could get at least 6 feet tall, probably higher if he's pruned right. And as you can see, he is just as happy going sideways.
So I am looking forward to seeing your Cardinal hide that propane tank!
CatSmiling

Thanks PC,
I know I'm very happy with the Cardinal plants I have so far! That is an ugly propane tank and someday they might have to move it. I want minimal damage done to my plants, so it is useful to know how far away to plant it from the tank, and I am guessing since they will lift it up that 2-3 feet from the side and somewhat near the ends so they can still read the meter ought to be a good spacing. Then I plan to tuck some here and there around the place. I'll be keeping you and anyone else who cares posted.
WIB,
SW

It probably seems funny to be adding to this thread in October. But I thought I'd show a couple more fuchsias that weathered the heat wave in September without any problems. Or if they did get their flowers fried, they are certainly over it now!
The first one is Coquet Bell. One of my blue favorites.

And here is the Iced Champagne I mentioned earlier, who had all of it's blossoms fried. Can't tell now though! This was taken this morning. I am not much into all white flowers, but this one has a creamy pink tone to it that I really like.

Here we go, headed into summer! Just a reminder that upright fuchsias in the ground or in large containers will get allot more flowers on them if they are at least allowed some full morning sun or full afternoon sun.
Just wanted to update this thread and hope that people will start sharing examples of their heat hardy fuchsias here so we can all see.

Well Summer really hit here this past week. Temps in the 80's and then cool nights in the low 60's. Summer always just hits here with a bang! Many of my fuchsias show wilt while in direct sunlight but quickly perk up when they get shade.

This morning I'm going to go out and mist them really well they enjoy the moisture. I noticed some aphids too so this will spray some of them little buggars too the ground...hopefully!! LOL

I just found this thread. I live in texas and have been basicly told that fuchsias will not stay growing here beyond the spring. I hate having to buy a new plant every year and it not last but a month or two.

Hi rebatelynne! Although it is true that hanging basket fuchsias will fry in the heat and dry air, that is not true of upright fuchsias if they are given protection from too much sun like the kind you have during the day in your zone. If they have a large and healthy root system, they will do fine if they only get morning sun or late afternoon sun. I bought some fuchsia starts yesterday that were dry as toast, but not wilted. I held them under water until their little root balls stopped bubbling and potted them up. They are out in the sun now and will be fine. In some of their native areas, they defoliate during the hot dry season and come back to life when the rains start again. So they are far more resilient than people realize!

so how do I find out which ones work well in our heat and can be planted in the ground. I so like the pretty purples and fuchsia colored ones that come in baskets. My two favorite colors together.

You can do a PlantFiles search for ones that are hardy for the higher temps as well as the colors you like. In your case, you also need them to be cold hardy. In the 'sticky' at the beginning of the forum here, there are links to sources of information like the 'Northwest Fuchsia Society' which has a test garden and rates the upright fuchsias on their ability to endure both extremes in temps.

thanks so much.