This little cutie is tagged as Fuchsia alpestris but it doesn't seem to match online images. It's a tiny bloom.
Tagged as F. alpestris but....?
another
It looks exactly like the one I have. The flowers are tiny. The leaves especially, look exactly the same. They are unusual for fuchsia species. Long, thick, and leathery. I would sent a photo here, but I am using a different computer at the moment and don't have access to my photos.
It is important to bear in mind when identifying fuchsias, that sometimes two completely different varieties can appear to have the same flower, but are very different when you look at their leaves.
And the individual varieties can have radically different flowers depending on the conditions they are grown in. The blossoms can vary in almost twice their size. The bigger ones being in shadier and cooler conditions and the smallers one being on plants out in the full sun and heat.
Even over time. Blossoms in the early spring can be double the size of blossoms later in the year if the plant is out in the sun.
This doesn't happen as much with the non-hybridized species though.
Ah, that explains why it didn't match your PF picture!
OK, so the tag stays, thanks so much for the info.
I've read conflicting data on this one and I am hoping that since we both have it, we can compare how it does. At one source, it is listed as only getting up to three feet tall. But that is up north where it gets much colder in the winter. I have found many varieties get much bigger down in our zone. So perhaps the other source, the Fuchsia Research Institute, which has it getting six feet high or higher, will turn out to be true for us.
I do though, think that this one is going to need winter protection. Last winter, my boliviana's and triphyllas sustained the most damage. And these ones, like F. alpestris, are the ones that are more heat tolerant.
I have had this one in a large pot outside for over 2 years now so it's lived through a couple of winters and bounces back just fine. The next test will be in my new gardens in Sebastopol though, where the temps can get a bit lower than here.
Good to know! Is it out in the sun? Partial sun? How big has it gotten?
It's 1/2 day morning sun and I cut it all the way back after winter and haven't renewed the soil in a while, my bad, so it's arching branches are maybe 2.5 to 3 ft long. As soon as I find the ideal spot once I move, it will go into the ground this year.
Mine was from a grower who really doesn't like the uprights, he prefers the hanging basket types and treats all of his starts like they are going to be in hanging pots. So this guy had been pinched when I got him in a 2" band. Instead of being able to grow straight up like it would have, it has all of these branches going sideways..... I just got it in March and it is already into a five gallon pot though, so I have hope for it.