Saturday, September 18, 2010

A Climbing Fuchsia??????

FUCHSIA REGIA

No it does not climb, not this variety anyway. It is called a Climbing Fuchsia, but, while it does need support, it doesn't twine or climb by tendrils, but rather insinuates itself among the branches of its neighbors. It can get quite large, my plant has grown about 4 1/2' high. Flowers are also large for a species Fuchsia which is a native Brazilian wildflower, but not so large as many hybrids. They are long and narrow, and have red sepals and purple corollas. The summer flowers persist long into autumn, with even an odd occasional bloom in early winter. Not suitable for hanging baskets because it will become leggy in search of places to cling. But it does exceedingly well as a hardy garden plant trained to a fence or trellis. I planted mine in with a Clematis that is growing up a trellis at the corner of the garage in the side garden. What I did was weave the fuchsia stems in and out of the trellis. Mine died all the way back to the ground the last two winters. I never trim any of my hardy Fuchsias till late Spring when they start putting out new growth.


USDA hardiness zone 7 to zone 10

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