Fanfare, the theatrical name of the red-scarlet fuchsia across the page, typifies the dash and style in today’s exciting fuchsias.
At home in pots and tubs, cascading from baskets and boxes, poised prettily as standards, they perform for you outdoors and in.
Almost everywhere, there is some way to grow them successfully.
Prima Ballerinas
Fuchsias are the prima ballerinas of the world of flowers. Their sweet pendant blooms seem to dance, and they are garbed in Klein-lighted hues of heliotrope, scarlet, melting pink and white.
Appearing in a wide range of shapes and sizes, they give you an impression that each, in its own way, is a small momentary miracle.
Although best adapted in cool, moist climates such as that enjoyed by residents of the Pacific Northwest, an increasing number of varieties (like ‘Red Cardinal,’ Mephisto,’ and ‘New Fascination’) are heat-resistant.
These open the way for their use in warmer, drier climates. They are superb for furnishing summer color on shaded terraces, porches, and patios.
Although you may develop them in many forms —tree, bush, upright bush, cascade, and espalier—they all start out the same way.
Growing Fuchsias Outdoors
If you prefer to grow them outdoors as a terrace or patio plant rather than as a house or greenhouse plant, the season starts as soon as the danger of frost is over.
This may be March in mild areas or May in cold regions. Begin with newly-rooted plants that are 4″ to 6″ inches high and have at least four sets of leaves.
Be sure they are straight and healthy, with strong root systems. Then, start them in 4-inch pots.
Condition of Soil
For potting soil, use a mixture of two parts oak leaf mold or peat moss, two parts sandy loam, and one part coarse sand.
If you prefer, substitute vermiculite or perlite instead of sand. At any rate, this drainage material is important because fuchsias quickly drown in soggy sour soil.
The soil needs to be slightly acidic. If you live where soils are naturally alkaline, use acid peat for the humus.
After your plantlets have grown a few weeks in small pots, transplant them into large containers, perhaps 12-inch pots or gallon cans.
Balanced Fertilizer
Every ten to 15 days, feed them with a balanced fertilizer high in nitrogen. Later, when buds begin to form, switch to a plant food rich in phosphorus to promote large blooms
Light and Temperature
Although known as plants for shade, fuchsias do not thrive or bloom in complete shadow.
They need sunlight like that filtered through a lath screen or trees. The early morning sun is ideal.
A few dark-colored kinds (like ‘Brilliant’) actually tolerate full sun if they are in regions that do not become blistering hot and if they are acclimated gradually.
No fuchsias can endure intense heat. Their best temperature range is 50° to 70° degrees Fahrenheit.
Controlling Pests
To control pests like aphids, red spiders, and white flies, spray fuchsias regularly with a regular garden insecticide like Malathion or a houseplant spray bomb.
When the weather gets hot and dry, spray plants each afternoon with a mist of water. It helps, too, to hose down the surroundings — the patio floor or the wall behind your collection. This cools and moistens the air.
Pruning Fuchsia
The shape of your fuchsia depends on pinching, pruning, and training methods. You will find complete instructions for shaping them into bushes, high shrubs, espaliers, trees, and hanging forms.
However you decide to handle your plants, feel free to pinch tips to direct the manner of growth, for fuchsia foliage grows fast and luxuriantly.
Cease pinching when the plant develops many bud-producing tips. Blooms appear about six weeks after you permit tips to form buds.
Start New Cuttings in Summer
A good time to take cuttings is July or August. Use chunky new growth, three to five inches long, and remove leaves from the lower half.
Dip ends in Rootone and insert them in damp humus soil right in the ground in the shade of larger plants or shrubs.
By fall, they will have developed into husky plants a good size for an 8-inch pot, to be exchanged for the 12-inch one or a small tub the next season.
After constant blooming through summer and early fall, plants begin to go dormant as cold weather approaches.
Greenhouse Storage
Before they are hit by frost, take down hanging containers and move standing ones indoors to a protected place.
If you live with mild winters (never going below 25° degrees Fahrenheit), set the pots along a wall where they are protected from harsh winds.
If your winters are severe and you lack a heated basement, garage, or greenhouse for storage, you can bury the pots under a foot-deep pile of sawdust in the ground after cutting tops down to a third of their former height.
Potted Fuchsias in Garage
If you store potted fuchsias in a garage or basement, let the foliage dry off and cut it down to 3″ or 4″ inches.
Through the winter water only once a month —just often enough to prevent roots from drying entirely.
In February and March, with spring approaching, remove the plants from winter storage and take them to a warmer, lighter place.
Prune back to the main branches and begin to water. Fresh growth quickly begins to open a new cycle of beauty.
44659 by Tru Peterson