And I've been thinking that they will all be as hardy as Firecracker....lol...it has been stuck in this one clay pot for over a year, was sitting on a table in the shade and the table got moved, so it's been sitting on the south side of the studio with more sun and heat than I would think it likes, but it's just keeps flowering continuously. It was given to me by a friend who has one in the ground after I'd admired hers and I was there recently and noticed that hers that is in the shade is not looking anywhere near as good as mine...


When given to me it was dead looking, leafless and I really didn't think it would live...lol.

Amazing how well they do in the right location, looks like you found it for that one Sherry.

This was taken at a friends house just down the road from me, tucked in a corner, it's gets just filtered light through trees.

That is one bodaciously *amazing* fuchsia plant ... err bush ... hmmm tree, Sue!!

I would really like to grow a lot of the shrub fuchsias if given a chance...lol..

You're moving. Remember ???
However, on your way NORTH, there are some good places for Fuchsia's in Leucadia...at least there used to be. You could EASILY fit 30 or 40 small ones in with your stuff when you make the move !
Mike (aka Growin) on DG has a good thread going right now about fuchsias he's got in Canada.
Mine are languishing in this stifling humidity we've had for the past 4 days.

Well, if I go North, I can have more fuchsias and hydrangeas..it I go Inland, I'll be doing natives and very xeric...if all this work doesn't kill me before I get out of here...lol..I want either lots of rain or things that I don't have to water at all because it seems like for the last 30 years, all I've done is water, water, water...I'm really sick of it.

You're trying top get me in trouble, Mike...I'm not looking at nurseries at all.....lol..it's really killing me not to be sowing flats of seed....

Fuchsias and hydrangeas are the answer to your water woes, Sherry. I have a few hydrangeas planted in sunny spots, and they have taken some work to keep happy in the past two weeks, but all of my fuchsias and most of my hydrangeas are planted in the shade and in the ground, and they're happy with once-a-week watering. No more hanging fuchsia baskets for me!

I love fuchsias! I had 50-60 varieties when I lived in Seattle and on the Olympic peninsula. So beautiful and free flowering, they seemed impossibly exotic to someone raised in a colder climate. Now that I'm back where it tends to be too cold to overwinter them, fuchsias are brilliant spots of color in the greenhouse off season. Outside of the greenhouse, though, baskets are nearly impossible to keep moist enough in the summer, despite all of the ones that are starting to show up for sale in the big box stores.

I missed out on the fuchsia mites, thank goodness, though I never tried to grow fuchsias when I lived in California. I have seen the more mundane white mites on them, though, and fuchias are one of the plants that get regular washdowns to discourage them.

Marinka here has long been my wife's favorite:

Marinka is beautiful, and that's a super photo of it, Paul!

It's Fuchsia pruning day. A long time ago, I learned to associate essential gardening chores with holidays in my mind. Fuchsias are pruned on Washington's Birthday.

Good to know - thanks Zuzu!

Thanks...lol...we were in town and wondered why some places were closed..they were closed for the combined "President's Day" last weekend, but apparently want every day off they can get....

If you have the time, would you please go to this thread and lend support for my request for a Fuchsia Forum? Dave won't create one unless several members express a desire for it.

The thread "Fuchsia Forum" in Site Talk forum

And here we are!

I think this thread never got as much attention as it may have deserved because it was in the Pacific Coast Gardening Forum, which isn't visited by many "outsiders."

I'm here! I think most of mine are goners. We had a very wet cold winter, even the hardy ones are looking dead. Kind of early to tell. Any outstanding ones you guys like?

I'm busy acquiring other basic plants for 'scaping right now, intent on the fuchsias once things are more settled in, but my friend, bex tells me that she has one set aside for me that is 'rare'...didn't even ask its name, I saw that it's about 4' tall...it will be my first fuchsia. I'm going back to her place with a trailer, she has more stuff I need....lol..

Sounds ultra-exciting, Sherry.

Most of mine are still just emerging from the base of the former plants. I'm not sure whether it was the colder winter or the drought, but they're very late in developing. Not F. magellanica, of course, which was pruned down to about 3 feet and is already back up to 6-7 feet. Maybe I should just fill the garden with magellanicas.

I bought one at Ace Hardware yesterday when Sue and I went out. It's labeled Myra, but I don't find that name in any registry, so it's either new or illegitimate. I created an entry for it anyway, and I'll post photos as soon as it blooms.

My favorite is Fuchsia triphylla 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt'.

Plant several containers of it every year for the Hummers! I put them on our front porch that gets morning sun and afternoon shade.

Thanks for reminding me about that fuchsia, Marilyn! I've had one of those, in a pot, for more than ten years, but it looks like it finally bit the dust this year - most of it isn't leafing out - my bad for not re-potting it for too long. Guess I'll HAVE to get another one! :-)

Sherry, it IS exciting that you're starting to landscape! A whole trailer - wow!