 Fuchsia in Hanging BasketsMost fuchsias like to be in a
shady location, either full shade / no sun or morning sun only.
However, there are some who don’t mind full sun when gradually gotten
used to it. They are harder to manage in full sun, as you must be
diligent about watering.
Fuchsias grown in Hanging Baskets, Wall Baskets, and Pots need
special attention.
As these plants are in containers, they cannot send roots down to
look for water. They need you to provide it for them. A full grown plant
will need to be watered every day. A hanging basket or wall planter on a
very hot day will appreciate watering twice a day – in the morning then
in the evening once the sun has gone off the plants.
Heat Tolerant Fuchsias – for hanging baskets in sunnier spots
A general “rule of thumb” is that fuchsias with orange and red
blossoms are more heat tolerant than fuchsias with blue and white
blossoms – making these the best choice for hanging baskets in sunnier
spots.
Fuchsias with orange and red blossoms can generally withstand
temperatures in the high 80s Fahrenheit and low 90s Fahrenheit, even in
full afternoon sun.
Some popular examples of heat tolerant fuchsia varieties include
Daisy Bells, First Love, Eternal Flame and Sacramento Bells.
Hanging Fuchsia Baskets & Hummingbirds
A great treat for all those bird lovers is that all fuchsias attract
humming birds. These little birds are not picky about the fuchsia colors
either. Hummingbirds are attracted to nectar producing plants so if your
lucky enough to live in an area with hummingbirds your hanging basket
will be a welcome treat for them.
Watering Your Baskets
When watering so long as the direct sun is not on your baskets or
planters, we recommend that you shower the plants leaves and flowers
too.
If the plant looks droopy, it probably needs to be watered.
Occasionally a crust will form in the soil on top of your hanging
basket or hanging planter, preventing the water from penetrating the
soil.
This crust will cause water to roll off to the side of the container
and down the side of the container. An easy way to tell if your plant is
dry and either not getting enough water or has the crust syndrome is
lifting it a little. If the container is dry it will be light in weight,
if it has a crust on the top, break it up with a fork. It will need to
have several applications of water applied. It should revive within a
couple hours.
In a shady spot your fuschia hanging basket or planter will not
require too much water, if the leaves are beginning to turn a yellow
color; this usually means that you are over watering.
If this happens we suggest letting the soil dry out and then begin to
water it every second day or when the plants soil begins to feel dry and
it is really thirsty.
Fertilizing Your Fuschia Hanging Baskets
Never fertilize a dry plant. Always water well first then wait awhile
for the water to be absorbed.
You should fertilize with every week using a diluted solution. Pick
up a commercial fertilizer for blooming plants. The mix needs to be in
the mid to high numbers, such as 20-20-20.
 Fuchsias
do best with an acid fertilizer, such ones labeled for Azalea,
Rhododendron or Camellia.
Growing Tips
Seed Pods on the plants should be picked off after the blooms fall
off. This is important as maturing seed pods signal the plant that it
does not need to bloom as much.
Whitefly and aphid can be a problem for fuchsias. Orthene is a good
product to spray with. We use some commercially available only products
and talking with your local nursery will help you find some other
choices too.
Sometimes spider mite invades in late summer, that will require a
miticide. A pesticide that contains pyrethrum works. Spider mites
require a magnifying glass to see but not the damage they do. The leaves
will have purple sun-burned looking blotches that will eventually cause
a plant to defoliate from the center of the plant out to the ends. (Not
enough water will also cause defoliation). You will need to spray once a
week for 3 weeks to get all developing stages. Bayer makes a 2 in one
systemic rose and flower product that can be sprinkled on the soil
surface; the label states 6 weeks of protection. Read the label, it
needs to contain Di-Syston to be active on mites.
Over Wintering – your baskets and planters
 Fuchsias
can be made to go dormant and stored to bloom the following year.
However it can be tricky.
Those that are planted out in the ground should be trimmed to about 6
inches in height and mulched to the top with straw, bark or soil. Along
about April pull back the mulch and be patient. When you see signs of
sprouting, lightly feed them with a half strength solution.
Fuchsias in hanging baskets also need to be trimmed back and the top of
the soil cleaned up and watered. Then place your baskets or planters in
a location that is cool, a location that won't freeze; a garage,
basement, or storage shed.
They will need to be watered about every 3 weeks throughout the
winter. Depending on the weather, they can be brought out and hung up in
April, but snatch them back in if the weather turns freezing for a
couple days. Lightly fertilize when the new shoots start to show
Where to get them…
Check out
http://www.gardenharvestsupply.com/productcart/pc/Fuchsia-Plants-c167.htm
Or for a larger selection contact Pearson's Nursery at 26626 -132nd Ave.
S.E. Kent, WA 98042 USA Phone: (253) 631- 3743.
They open March 20 Th. thru Aug.1st. They have over 488 varieties to
chose from in their catalog .Their catalog cost is $2.00 and they ship
to all the states and internationally.
Some of the many colorful fuchsia flowers….
Here are just a few of the many fuchsia flowers available for you to
choose from – from a simple classic white which would look lovely in a
hanging basket in a shady spot to a more old world purple and white
combination to the totally exotic color combination of black and red.
Growing Fuchsias in Planters, Tubs and Hanging Baskets
Whether you only have space on the windowsill or a container crying out
for several plants, there's a fuchsia to suit your lifestyle.
Some trail over the edges of walls, others provide the focal point in
a border. A few can even be grown for their fantastic leaf color and
most will flower from early summer through to autumn - and beyond in
mild areas.
Yes, the fuchsia is perhaps the garden plant that packs the biggest
punch and offers the best value for money. It's been intensively bred
for nearly 200 years and thousands of varieties have been created to
please just about everyone's tastes. Even so, the simpler species are
sometimes the most beautiful.
Fuchsias for Planters
Before you dash off to the garden centre to pick up a few, you need
to know which types are suitable for which container. If you're going
for a variety - and that's what you'll find most of - you'll have a
choice of bush or trailing types.
Bush are either upright or lax in habit. The latter are best for
hanging baskets and have more of an arching, graceful habit than a true
point-straight-at-the-ground nature. They also work quite well around
the edges of broad containers, such as troughs; frosty orange 'Amazing
Maisie', white and pale pink ‘Hidcote Beauty' and deep purple and red
‘Roesse Blacky' are brilliant examples for baskets.
Upright fuchsias work well at the centre of a container or planter,
where they'll bush out with strong, erect growth. But what really sets
them off is an underplanting of pale foliage such as Helichrysum
petiolare. Dark-flowered varieties of fuchsia such as 'Gruss aus dem
Bodethal' and 'Dorothy' work well in this situation, but 'Checkerboard',
'Pacquesa' and 'Carmel Blue' also come highly recommended.
Caring for Fuchsias in Hanging Baskets
Hanging Baskets and other smaller containers tend to dry out quickly
in hot, sunny weather so you may want to add some water-retaining
gel/crystals to the compost before planting.
Whatever you choose, it's important that the plants get a sunny or
semi-shady aspect. Regular watering during hot weather is essential -
twice a day if in hanging baskets - and you'll need to feed with a
tomato fertilizer once a week from midsummer to keep the flowers coming.
A prodigious amount of stem growth is key to a succession of flowers
and a bushy habit, but it won't happen all by itself. Once plants shoot
into growth in spring and the plant is about 3-4in. (7-10cm) high, you
need to remove the growing tip. Then regularly pinch out sideshoots to
encourage a dense habit. You can stop once the first set of flower buds
have formed but it's better to carry on until you've achieved roughly
the shape you want and delay flowering a little.
Fuchsia Origins
Fuchsias were discovered in South America and New Zealand, where they
grow wild. These species have quite different flowers to the cultivated
types - some long and thin, others small and fat with protruding stigma
- and a few, such as F. magellanica and the unusual F. procumbens, with
green-yellow, upright-pointing flowers and a prostrate habit, are
tolerant of some frost; F. magellanica can often be seen growing as a
shrub in gardens in the south-west of England.
Not so wild are the cultivated triphylla varieties. Their long, thin
flowers are borne in clusters and have a more 'regal' air to them - they
certainly work well when planted in a tall terracotta urn, where their
architectural magnificence can be shown off to its maximum. Crimson
'Mary', peach 'Coralle' and the popular orange-red 'Thalia' are among
the best.
Variegated Leaves
Fuchsias excel in showing us how well they can flower, and there's no
harm in that, but there are a varieties that have the added bonus of
leaf color. Many of the triphyllas already mentioned usually have a
purple sheen to the underside of their leaves, but 'Firecracker' has a
mixture of rich salmon and pale green variegation to accompany the
clusters of rich pink flowers.
'Sunray' is a late-flowerer, which is great, because it gives you
plenty of time to ogle the cream, pink and green leaves borne on pink
stems. The youngest leaves have the strongest pink tinges and the
flowers, when they do appear, are pinkish-violet.
But the best has to be 'Autumnale', which doesn't, as the name suggests,
save its best until the autumn. It stays as a low mound and its
yellow-green leaves turn a rich, coppery crimson as they age. Flowers
are rose-purple and are produced in late summer. It's a spectacular show
and one you really need to make space for in your garden.
For something fun consider growing Fuchsias in hanging baskets and
hanging planters.
For more information visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuchsia
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