Fill up with feisty fuchsias
Hardy plants can live in the shadow of their showy patio cousins, but they’re a rreal border brightener
Our senses may be assaulted by the profusion of spring flowers at the moment, but these won’t last forever and our borders need plants that’ll carry on the display into summer and beyond.
Among the hordes of contenders, hardy fuchsias stand out because of their variety, ease of growth and sheer flower power. They may start slow, barely getting a glance as peonies and lupins fade, but from then on they build into mounds of dainty flowers that get better as the year progresses, reaching their zenith in autumn when the rest of the garden is looking decidedly jaded.
As happy in part shade as in full sun, and displaying a welcome combination of elegance and colour, they’re essential in any border, challenging penstemons and dahlias for length of flowering.
They’ll be welcome companions for your daylilies and will still be smiling when Michaelmas daisies are in bloom! Get your plants now, pop them in and your rewards will be great.
There’s no hard and fast definition of what a hardy fuchsia is, even though, as gardeners, we call any that can stand outside all year, every year, a hardy variety. In general, the hardiest are Fuchsia magellanica and its kin, while F. triphylla types, such as ‘Thalia’, are among the most tender. In between, there are thousands of others that may, or may not, survive in your garden through winter.
The toughest retain a woody framework and sprout from this in spring, blooming earlier than the others and being suitable for a hedge, while many others are killed back to the ground in an
average winter and send up new shoots from below, just like a herbaceous perennial. They bloom later but still make a fabulous show from July onwards. And so many tender fuchsias may also succeed outside if you plant them in a warm spot and mulch them in winter! Just experiment on your plot. Most people think hardy
fuchsias have small flowers and are less showy than their patio relations. While this is partly true, there are lots of hardy varieties that have large, and even double, flowers. And don’t forget that biggest is not always best – a mass of smaller flowers can make more of a show than a few big blooms! Fuchsia magellanica is characterised by is long, slender blooms and hardy nature