Fuchsia

Our fuchsias in the garden provide both flower and leaf colour, June onward to the frosts. These are hardy, but may get cut down by winter. If they don't cut them back hard in spring, to encourage vigorous new shoots. Grow in a reasonable soil, in part shade, away from hot midday sun. Flowers are still as colourful as many of the summer bedding forms, but tend to be more elegant and well proportioned. The flower structure is interesting, as its the coloured sepals which are most prominent, reflexing gracefully upward, from within the petals, wrap around each other forming a tube-like corolla, protecting the exerted stamens & stigma.

Fuchsias have been cultivated this side of the Atlantic for the past two centuries, and have now established themselves in the wild throughout the warmer and wetter west, especially in Ireland.The pendent flowers are much visited by bumblebees in mid- to late-summer: the more agile ones are able to hold the outside of the flower and manoeuvre themselves into the nectar while other species take the direct approach and eat their way into the nectar by chewing through the flower-tube. These are the nectar-thieves that get what they want without providing a pollination service to the plant. In their native parts of the world, many are pollinated by hummingbirds. As always the doubled forms have either fewer resources for insects, or they are more difficult to access. Fruit-eating birds such as blackbirds and pigeons will eat the berries, while the more hardy forms that can form a substantial bush or hedge may be used for nesting.