I agree with you, John, about the ideal environment. Many people in my area (Sonoma County) grow fuchsias, but only in the shade. Our temperatures can approach 100 degrees in summer (and sometimes exceed 100 degrees), and we have virtually no humidity, so growing them in the shade with lots of watering or misting is the absolute rule here.
I think the nurseryman was referring specifically to fuchsias grown in hanging baskets. The excess water just runs out of the baskets, so it's virtually impossible to overwater them. When I lived in Piedmont, I learned that growing fuchsias was fraught with challenges for those of us who had moved there from San Francisco. The morning and evening fog and the cooler temperatures had provided all the moisture the fuchsias needed in San Francisco. Piedmont, although it was just across the bay from San Francisco, lacked the fog and had a Mediterranean climate, so we had to forget our old practices and learn new ones.
