Garden Flowers And Floral designs

Hardy Hybrids

'Riccartonii', a very free-flowering plant with scarlet tube and sepals and dark purple corolla, is sometimes listed as a variety of magellanica, but is now considered to be a hybrid. Two other old and very popular hardy hybrids are 'Madame Cornelissen' with crimson tube and sepals, crimson corolla, semi-double flowers, and 'Mrs Popple' with scarlet tube and sepals, deep purple corolla, single flowers.

Bedding Hybrids

Most fuchsias can be used in the garden for the summer, and brought in before the first frost. A good fuchsia catalogue will indicate the type of growth habit and whether they make good bedding fuchsias.

Some of the triphylla hybrids, such as `Gartenmeister Bonstedt', with its orange flowers, dark, reddish foliage, are very effective with other summer bedding plants. This type of fuchsia is distinctive, with longs tubes and short sepals, and a small single corolla.

Home And Greenhouse

Fuchsias flower well in a greenhouse, some will perform even better than if planted out-doors, but they are best regarded as short- term houseplants. The poor light and warm, dry atmosphere does not suit them and they generally deteriorate rapidly indoors. They do, however, make attractive conservatory plants where light and humidity are better.

For The Rock Garden

There are a few really dwarf frost-tolerant varieties suitable for the rock garden and even for window boxes. 'Tom Thumb' has red sepals with a mauve corolla and 'Lady Thumb' has carmine pink sepals, and a white corolla veined pink. Both are popular varieties that grow to about 45cm (1/2ft).

Tube - The tubular part of the flower between the flower stalk and the usually reflexed petal-like sepals.

{ Large plants are worth keeping from year to year, pruning as new growth starts M spring. Pinching out the tips of young shoots to entourage bushy growth should be started soon after the cuttings root. They benefit from regular feeding in spring and summer.}