White fuchsias and mulching dahlias
Many white fuchsias turn shades of pink in sunlight but some will keep their cool
There are many fuchsias with white flowers that have been introduced over decades of fuchsia hybridisation. These can vary from plants with small, single flowers to those with giant, double blooms. One perennial problem with many of these is that they'll stay white when grown with a reasonable amount of shading, but tend to take on a pink colouration when grown with significant exposure to direct sunlight. While they're still very attractive, sometimes you want your plants to maintain their whiteness.
If we look at the origins of white fuchsias, the first white hybrid was ‘Venus Victrix’, introduced
in 1842, which had small, single flowers with a white tube, white sepals tipped green and a purple-mauve corolla. It's claimed that all white fuchsia varieties have something of ‘Venus Victrix’ in their bloodline. The other early white fuchsia, Fuchsia magellanica molinae (alba), also known as white maiden’s blush in the USA, is a natural variant of the species F. magellanica. This grows as a vigorous, hardy bush in the UK, with single flowers with a white tube and sepals and a pale lavender corolla. This was introduced to the UK from southern Chile in 1932.
Fuchsias which have some green in the tube or sepal tips of the flowers appear to be less likely to take on pink colourations. Also, fuchsias which have more of an ivory-white coloured flower tend to resist taking on a pink colouration. Finally, for some of the white fuchsias which have some red streaks in the tube, the corolla petals stay white in the sun. Look for these characteristics and hopefully you'll be successful.
Here are some suggestions from ones I've grown or seen:
‘Celine’: One of the Diva series, this has single, white flowers which stay mainly white even in full sun.
‘Constellation’: A white, double-flowered fuchsia from the USA. For me this one always stayed pretty white, even in the sun in the UK, but I've seen pictures on the internet where it looks more pink.
Encliandra hybrids: There are a number of these with tiny, white flowers that stay white in the sun, including: ‘Jiddles’, ‘Nicki FenwickRaven’, ‘Oulton Fairy’ and ‘Snowflake’.
‘Florence Mary Abbott’: Another single that stays white, although the tube has some red streaking.
‘Hawkshead’: A very hardy, upright fuchsia with dark green foliage and small, single, white flowers. The flowers stay white in full sun, but
the corolla can take on a very pale lilac colouration inherited from its parent
F. magellanica molinae ‘Alba’.
‘Happy Anniversary’: This is a small, brilliant white single with dark foliage and the flowers stay white.
‘Our Ted’: This is still currently the whitest triphylla available, although there are a lot of developments in this field coming from the Netherlands.
‘Roy Walker’: This is a very large double and, despite having some red stripes in the tube and the base of the sepals, the full corolla petals stay mainly white.
‘Sleigh Bells’: A white single with a greenish tube and green sepal tips which stay white in the sun.
‘White King’: A double from the USA with green stripes on the tube and a very full white flower.