Fuchsia quandary

This year has presented a most unusual flowering pattern for the fuchsias in the garden. I try to add a few annual varieties to my little hardy collection most years. The established ones that are scattered in the borders and one or two tubs were very late in showing any kind of life at all earlier in the year. I wondered whether, in fact, they had all perished in the Winter but decided to leave them alone. Eventually I was rewarded with tiny shoots along the woody stems. Unlike last year however the flowers were very sparse indeed.

The indoor or annual varieties which were full of blooms in the nursery soon also developed into spasmodic flowering episodes. Some are now in full bloom and there appear to be more flowers on one of these ‘house’ plants than on any other time of the year.

Indoor ‘house’ plant fuchsia

Fuchsias are really easy plants to take cuttings from. Simply snip off a stem to approximately one to two lengths of your thumb – gently remove the bottom four leaves from the stem – use a small lollipop stick or old twig as a dibber – make a hole in the soil about half a thumb or slightly longer in length – gently push in the fuchsia cutting and press either side of it to firm it into the ground – then water. When the plant has been growing for twelve weeks pinch out the top two leaves to make it bush … if a small tree is required then wait until the stem is the desired length before pinching out the top two leaves. Remember when a small tree is needed, it may be necessary to remove small stems from the bottom of the main baby trunk.