Garden Mastery Tips
from Clark County Master Gardeners

June 1999

Fuchsias: Out of the Air and Into the Borders

Are you looking for a hardy, deciduous and colorful shrub? Try the upright fuchsia. There are more than 100 species and 8,000 varieties of this plant, ranging in size from 'Tom Thumb' at 1 1/2 by 1 foot to 'Surprise' at 3 1/2 by 5 feet in width.

These plants, which do very well in the Pacific Northwest, require cutting back old growth to the ground in spring after new growth appears. Tip prune for shape during the blooming season. Their other needs include a good mulch and siting out of strong winds. They are an excellent source of food for hummingbirds, thanks to their early bloom.

Fuchsias make a very interesting contrast in your beds. Some, such as F.magellanica 'Tricolor', are so subtle that you barely notice them quietly blooming mingled among the perennials. Of course you can find varieties that shout color to you, such as 'Caledonia' with its long flowers of cherry red and the bicolored firecracker F.magellanica 'Riccartonii'. We have all admired the hanging fuchsia baskets in Pacific Northwest gardens, but now how about getting them out of the air and using them in our flower beds and borders?