Dashing double fuchsias to look out for
Give hanging baskets some pizzazz this year with showy and large double varieties
Adouble-flowered fuchsia is one which has eight or more petals in the corolla. According to Felix Porcher, the first recognised doubledflowered varieties were introduced by W H Storey in the UK in 1850, ‘Duplex’ and ‘Multiplex’. These had inconsequential red/purple flowers and the petals were quite hidden in the corolla. However, this sparked huge efforts in fuchsia breeding and within 15 years more attractive, larger double-flowered fuchsias started to appear such as ‘Gypsy Queen’, introduced by Bull in 1865.
One of the early large double fuchsias is ‘Phénoménal’, introduced by Victor Lemoine in 1869, which is a large, red and violet double still in cultivation today and hardy in the southern parts of the UK.
There are many other doubles produced but the real progress in producing large, double-flowered fuchsias happened in the coastal regions of California after the Second World War. The basis for this was 57 fuchsia cultivars, including the double-flowered ‘Rolla’, imported to the USA from Europe in 1930.
The 48 that survived were distributed to members of the American Fuchsia Society. From these, further hybridisation took place, and this was part of the basis for hybridisers, including Annabelle Stubbs, Muriel Waltz, Victor Reiter and many others, starting to produce large, double-flowered cultivars, which were later marketed in the UK and other countries as the ‘California Dreamers’ series, or the ‘Giant American Doubles’ series, often used in hanging baskets and containers. Large doubles also appeared from hybridisers in other countries. Large, double-flowered fuchsias really are well worth trying. In particular, look out for these beauties: ‘Dancing Flame’ – Annabelle Stubbs, USA, 1981 Though not in the huge double class, I’ve included this one because of its startling colours and profuse flowering. The double flowers have a pale orange tube, orange sepals and an orange-carmine corolla. ‘Deep Purple’ – Ted Garrett, USA, 1989
Superb lax cultivar with contrast between the white tube and corolla and deep purple corolla. ‘Devonshire Dumpling’ – George Hilton,
UK, 1981 Lax cultivar with a pale pink
tube and sepals and a white full corolla with pink veins on the petals. ‘Eusebia’ – Annabelle Stubbs, USA, 1989
An upright cultivar with a greenish-white tube and sepals and a red full corolla with white patches at the base of the petals. ‘Happy Wedding Day’ – Noel Richards, Australia, 1985 One with a white tube striped with rose-Bengal, white sepals with rose-Bengal at the petal base and margins and a white corolla. ‘Peachy’ – Annabelle Stubbs, USA, 1989 Lax cultivar with a very pale pink tube and sepals and a pale lavender corolla with pink splashes. ‘Quasar’ – Fuchsia La/Roy Walker, USA, 1974 A trailing cultivar with a white tube and sepals and a lavender-blue full corolla. ‘Swingtime’ – Horace Tiret, USA, 1950
A popular red and white cultivar that’s widely grown as a basket variety. Strong, wiry growth and ultra-reliable. ‘Voodoo’ – Horace Tiret, USA, 1953 A more upright cultivar with red tube and sepals and a dark purple corolla. The weight of the flowers will tend to drag the branches down. ‘Wendy’s Beauty’ – Ted Garrett, USA, 1992
Another superb lax cultivar with a white tube and corolla and a very pale lavender corolla.