Fuchsia - Cultivation

Cultivation

Fuchsias are popular garden shrubs, and once planted can live for years with a minimal amount of care. The British Fuchsia Society maintain a list of "hardy" fuchsias that have been proven to survive a number of winters throughout Britain and to be back in flower each year by July. Enthusiasts report that hundreds and even thousands of hybrids survive and prosper throughout Britain.

Fuchsias from sections Quelusia (F. magellanica and variants, F. regia, etc.), encliandra (some encliandra hybrids flower continuously), Skinnera (F. excorticata, F. perscandens) and Procumbentes (F. procumbens is suitable as a groundcover) are proven to be hardy in widespread areas of Britain and Ireland. Some temperate species will survive outdoors in the temperate areas, though may not always flower in the average British summer.

Due to a very temperate climate fuchsias grow abundantly in the West Cork region of Ireland and are associated with the area to such an extent that a local branding initiative uses the fuchsia flower as their logo. For similar reasons fuchsias grow abundantly in the Scilly Isles, and have even colonised wild areas. While magellanica is not wide spread in Scotland it has been know to grow wild in sheltered areas, it can been seen growing self set seedlings along the banks of a stream (burn) that runs through Cambo gardens in Fife.

In horticultural usage, it is common to refer to fuchsias as either Upright, or Trailing, by their growth pattern, although some may be grown as either. Some more vigorous varieties of fuchsia can be trained as hedges (F magellanica, F. riccartonii) and do particularly well in coastal areas. A popular practice is to train fuchsias as standards; this can be done with the faster-growing varieties.