Hardy Fuchsia Cultivars

Day 208: Gordon's in Yelm is rather small as garden stores go, but over the years, I have found some real treasures there and at good prices. Most of my hardy fuchsias have come from them, in the one-gallon size. I knew they sometimes had smaller pots, but I never seemed to hit it at the right time. Yesterday, I scored three new cultivars for $3.99 each, all hardy in Zone 7. This brings my collection of hardy fuchsias to eight now, and since they are a major draw for hummingbirds, I wouldn't mind having even more (preferably different, although I may divide some of my larger specimens). My first was Genii, a small-flowered variety with hot pink sepals and a dark purple corolla. I also have Riccartonii (another small-flowered type), Army Nurse and Dollar Princess (both of which have large flowers similar to those on the annuals), and enchanting Erecta which, true to its name, faces upward. Erecta is white with a pale pink corolla. The others are various shades of pink and purple in a variety of combinations of hue, foliage shape and colour, and flower forms (single, double). Although hardy fuchsias can become rather sprangly, they are easy to maintain in a compact shape. New shoots arise from the base each year; old stalks will put out leaves somewhat later, so they can be pruned back or removed entirely.