Snow Fuchsia In It

Whatever the Weather

I know I said I was going to write about Fuchsias this time but I got distracted by white fluffy things falling from the sky. Once we've all overcome our excitement about snow and the ensuing traffic chaos and learned to cope in freezing temperatures life will get back to normal just in time for a thaw to set in. As it took me three hours to get home yesterday I decided to take an ice day & stay safely at home today (Wednesday). The lane outside is like glass, as were the main roads yesterday afternoon. Temperatures dropped to -9 last night so I knew the roads were not going to be any better at the time I set off for work, even in Norfolk we have hills for people to get stuck on.

The ex-fruit cage

As it turned out to be a lovely sunny morning I took the camera out for a walk and called in down at the allotment. The snow was about 4”-6” deep and full of animal tracks. The onions I'd put in a couple of weeks ago were safe inside their cloche but the fruit cage has collapsed. I know I intended to replace the netting but now it will be tangled up with whatever plants are left inside. The reason for my visit was to fetch the wheelbarrow back for himself to use gritting the sliproad by the house. Mission accomplished.

Now, Back to the Fuchsias....

I cannot remember exactly when my passion for fuchsias began. As I have little recollection of lots of Fuchsias in gardens in Norwich I think it may have been when we moved from Norwich to the North Norfolk coast. Whenever it was once I was hooked there was no turning back. Fuchsias area a bit like Marmite – its either love or hate. As a fan of both Marmite and Fuchsia I cant see how you could possibly hate such versatile things! Fuchsias have everything to offer; a vast array of colours (with the exception of a true yellow variety); single, double or semi double flowers; sizes and growth habits to suit every garden, container or windowbox; can be grown as hedging, standards, trained up a trellis; come in tender, half hardy or fully hardy varieties available and to finish off they are exceedingly good value for money not only because garden centres usually sell them on multi buy offers but many of them have a very long flowering period.

In the UK there are 2000 varieties available (12000 worldwide). Unfortunately in most garden centres there are barely a dozen to choose from. Familiar names being Display, Dollar Princess, Swingtime, Genii, Beacon and Winston Churchill. Great excitement ensues when I come across something different in a local nursery. To find a wider variety a trip to a specialist nursery is needed, or a visit to an online supplier. Either of these places will open up a bewildering world of choices. Careful consideration needs to be given to where the fuchsias will be planted before visiting such a place otherwise you could end up buying far more than you have room for, and not the type you wanted. Even then strict boundaries will need to be observed – “I cannot spend more than £30 and I cannot buy more than 20 plants!”

In the greenhouse I have a tall fuchsia, a modern development created by people too lazy to train it into a proper standard! The top had been broken off so I rescued it with thoughts of turning it into a proper standard, training begins in the spring. Another popular trend is the 'climbing' fuchsia Lady Boothby (single flowered) or Lady in Black (double flowered). Some detractors say these are not proper climbers because they have no means to support themselves either with tendrils or stem roots, nor do they twine themselves around anything. Give them enough support and they will vigorously go skywards with the best true climbers. Perhaps one will be a candidate for the coal shed wall I mentioned last time.

I would very much like to grow a fuchsia hedge, maybe I can sneak it in the front garden by the fence, I have been wanting to break up the expanse of wood with some greenery. Having had a rummage on the internet I have decided to try and get several different Magellanica if I can hunt them down. There is already a rather sorry looking Molinae (Maiden's Blush) lurking near the corner of the decking which I shall try to rescue (attempting to propagate cuttings again). I would like to have M.Gracillis Variegata – with small, cream-edged leaves, long-narrow crimson and purple flowers; M.Aurea Golden Fuchsia has gold leaves on red stems, crimson and purple flowers; M.Versicolour is also variegated with small, grey-green leaves edged in cream, red and purple flowers. There is a lot of colour here so I think adding in a Molinae and a Hawkshead with their pale pink and white flowers will tone it down. That sounds like a lot of plants but it is a long garden – we have had three cars comfortably parked side by side in the past.

As well as the hedge I shall try out some different ones somewhere in the border. I have spotted Greyrigg a small hardy bush with delicate single flowers palest pink sepals, corolla palest blue. I also cant resist the rather odd looking Fuchsia Procumbens with its tube yellowish green, red at base and very short, sepals chocolate brown, no corolla, hardy.

Well with all this talk of Fuchsias I have left no room for my new venture. That will have to wait until next time