Share with us! Which fuchsias are you growing? Which ones are your favorites? Are any of them blooming right now?
My personal favorites are Preston Guild, Vinegar Joe, Marin Glow, for a start! I prefer the simple smaller flowers and the upright bushes.
Here is one of the new members of my collection. It didn't look like much last year when it was just in a 2" band. But I really like the simple flowers with white corollas the best and this one looks like it is going to be another favorite. It is called 'Ocean Beach' and has really bushed out this spring. There are allot of old fashioned upright varieties which where hybridized in the 1930's and 1940's and I am hoping people who might have them in their gardens will show them to us here.
'Ocean Beach' was introduced in 1975, but 'Vinegar Joe' is one of the older ones.
I just bought one from HD and the only thing the label said was hybrid fuschia. It looks exactly like the 2nd pciture you posted. I've heard that they don't do well in the heat, but they are listed for this zone. I hope to find the right location for this beauty.
Usually it is the hanging baskets that have the most trouble in the heat. They cannot have large enough roots systems on those haning pots to deal with the weather. But if you are careful to either make certain your plant never gets larger than it's container, thus never outgrowing it's root system, or you plant it in good soil where at least the base of the plant and the roots system are in damp shade, you should be okay.
I hope you'll post of photo of it here. Since your fuchsia doesn't have a name, it is probably a generic produced just for Home Depot. I guess that means you get to give it a good name yourself! I have one I bought at Orchard Supply that I can't add to the Plant Files here because it is a generic. So I named it after one of my nieces and she is just thrilled.
Oh that's great! I'll get to name it. I'll try and post a picture as soon as it gets some new blooms on it. I'm excited to try this new plant.
I went and bought another fuschia today. It was just like the last one except purple and fuschia. I re-potted it in a rather large pot and put it on my front porch where I can look after it. It will get a little morning sun there. I'm really going to try hard to make it happy.
Fuchsia are pretty forgiving, they aren't as fragile as some believe. They can get bone dry and wilt, but if care is taken to make certain the soil is properly rehydrated, then they are usually just fine the next morning. Really dry soil can repel water. So when a plant gets that dry, it either needs to be immersed until bubbles stop coming up, or allowed to temporarily sit in water until it is soaked up. The mistake is often made that water is just poured onto the plant and it runs right down the sides and out the bottom! The center stays bone dry, and the plant never recovers, gets thrown away, and continues the myth that fuchsias are delicate. Your morning sun will help it produce a lot of flowers, especially if you remember to feed it on a regular basis. Just be careful not to let it get too much sun in your zone. Where I am, most of my potted fuchsias can be out in the full sun all day long. Take a picture anyway, then we can see it progress!
Thank you. Will try and get a pic up soon.
Here is my 'Duchess of Albany' this week-end. It's in a 15 gallon container. But I have the feeling I am going to have to either severly prune her this year or put her in the ground because this bush is getting huge.
Hi PC,
I just got a beautiful Voodoo plant that I want to plant outside in full sun. I read on another page that you have yours in a pot in full sun but that the roots have extended themselves into the soil below the pot. Other than planting in good, moist soil do you have any other recommendations for keeping my plant happy? I'm in the Redwood City area which I believe is similar to yours in Freedom. Also, I'd like to have a few different fuchsias in the same area so are there any CVs that are more fragile than others and if so, what steps should I take to accommodate them?
thanks,
d
Hi Dee,
I'm so happy to see that you're getting into fucshias. I'm rooting some cuttings to complete our trade & two of them are fucshias. I can root more for you, if you'd like... I'm also rooting some penstemon. See, I didn't forget - just needed to finish my spring planting & give your plants a chance to develop some leaves, so they don't look dead!
Liz
Most of my collection is in containers to protect them from the gophers! And they are all out in the full sun most of the day. The only time they get damaged is when it is so hot it also damages the flowers on my roses. But to be on the safe side, you might want to go half shade half sun. Doesn't the fog come rolling over the hills regularly there? I drive up to SF all of the time and have family now in Redwood City. If you keep them in pots, just remember to keep them fed and don't let them get too much bigger than their pot. And I use Bayer Advanced 2in1 Systemic Rose and Shrub care granules in each one to keep mites off of them. It works great! And I still feed on a regular basis because fuchsias grow so much faster than roses and other shrubs and can handle the extra fertilizer. I just use a half strength concentration of fertilizer.
This is my Preston Guild this May. It has really surprised me with how tall it's gotten! It is taller than me!
Oh drat, fuchsia's are gopher food? I have enough trouble with those critters...I'm not going to sacrifice my fuchsias to them! If I used large wire cages in the ground would the root balls be okay? We don't get too much fog here...lots of sun in the summer which is why I wanted to plant in the ground...I didn't want to be concerned with mandatory daily watering.
Thanks for your help...I attribute (blame) my love of fuchsias to you and the pictures you post. I had to go out and get more of them. :-) Most are in 4" pots but they flower so easily that they are hard to resist.
d
Hey, at least aphids, slugs, and snails don't like them!!! Snails mowed down my first crop of fresh basil because my fuchsias had lulled me into complacency on the slug and snail defense.
Is there anything a gopher won't eat? I had to line all of my veggie beds with aviary netting a foot down in order to save my groceries! I depend on my veggie garden, especially in the winter. And those little buggers even ate all of my onions one year! Raw onions! They climbed up into the cinder blocks I used to use for my asparagus and ate all of them one year too. So those are now in containers and the walls of cinder blocks now have aviary netting under all of them to keep the strawberries growing in them from harm.
Yes, large wire cages should do the job. I don't want to have to water the big ones every day either ;-)
thanks Liz! I won't turn away any plants you have to offer :-)
Here are a few of my babies...
close up 1
2
3
Autumnale
Bicentennial
Big red
Billie Green
Blacky
Blue Eyes
Cardinal
Chang
Dying Embers
Flash
Foxgrove Wood
Genii
Golden gate
Golden Marinka
Hawkshead
La Campanella
Lady Boothby
Margaret
Marinka
Maxima
Neon Tri-color
Pink Fantasia
Pink Marshmallow
Prosperity
Red Spider
Regia
Sharkie
Snowy Summit
Thilco
Vineagar Joe
Walz Bella
Will Rogers
Zulu King
Here is a list of what I have in my garden. I have some new additions that I recently bought this year and some of them are setting buds on them. I'm anxiously awaiting to see their blooms and share pics of them.
Very nice!
quamsorbit, I love how you have one going over a wall. And it all looks so lush! GGKin, I agree with you, the foliage alone on those two are worth it. Your containers are looking good!
Thanks! I just wish the rest of my yard looked as good...I'm getting there a little bit at a time but MAN the weeds are kicking my patootie :-) Every time I think I'm making some headway it rains again and the cycle starts all over again.
excited here - found some fuchsia babies in orangey-coral-peachy colours.
None are hardy for Z7, so they will have to be overwintered.
Roos Breitenbach
Edwin gouldwin
Nicci's Findling
Kwintet
Galadriel
Plus - Pinto de Blue. Not orange!
& a substitute called Darby Star.
I'll post pics when they grow up & flower!
I would especially like to see Pinto de Blue. I don't grow the trailing types, but I'd still love to see this one.
here you go - it's not mine, but I have great expections!
I have Pinto de Blue on my wish list...where did you get yours Katye? Locally?
Katye,
I don't recall seeing the Fuchsias you listed above before they all have such unique names.
Looking forward to some pics of them when they are in bloom.
guamsorbit
I know just what you are talking about with the weeds. They pop up as quick as you turn your back!! And...it's been raining here all week, hope I can find my fuchsias after a weeks worth of rain here. LOL
I purchased those fuchsias locally, but there is a website.
I'll go get the link - BRB.
http://www.fuchsias.net/
This message was edited May 22, 2010 8:51 AM
Edwin Gouldwin
Galadriel
Kwintet
Nicci's findling
Roos Breytenbach
I will be going to visit this nursery soon. I happened upon it by hearing the name in conversation & then saw a post on DG. she is about an hour south of me, so it will be worth the time spent.
I was exceptionally pleased with my order, except that the selections I wanted the most were sold out. Next year I order earlier; problem solved.
The plants looked great right out of the box - nicely rooted, too. I'll post their progress.
I was going to start hardening them off outside today, but it's chilly enough here to warrant a fire in the woodstove! Can't put the babies outside just yet...I don't want to go out there - even in polarfleece! =:0)
Thanks Katye, that is a beautiful photo of 'Pinto de Blue'!
And I like the fuchsias you have selected. Hopefully, they will all bloom soon for you and we'll see them here again from your garden. Are you hardening off near a sunny window? I have a couple of fuchsias I am growing indoors next to sunny southern facing windows. One, 'Black Prince' also gets full morning sun. These ones though, will be staying indoors.
Hi everyone,
I got two from Pike's today: Angel Earrings and Electric Lights.
They are very small but flowering. Does anyone know of their final size and habits?
Thank you
