Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Resurrecting Fuchsia

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Last March I bought 2 fuchsia plants - ‘Lena’ and ‘Swingtime’ – at the Philadelphia Flower Show. They bloomed resentfully all summer hanging from a shepherd’s hook near our front walk. Seven foot tall American Dream lilies have grown up around the shepherd’s hook completely overpowering the little fuchsia.
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I neglected them at the end of the summer. When I brought them in last fall, they were sticks with a few tiny leaves. I almost composted them but decided to put them with the other overwintering plants.
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They came back to life. I trimmed back the dead branches. I’ll take cuttings from the new growth.
If all goes well, I’ll have new plants for the little pots on the shepherd’s hook. Maybe they’ll do better this year. Or maybe I’ll find a better plant for those pots.


(Information on fuchsia care from Washington State University Spokane Extension.)
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4 comments:

maría cecilia said...

Marie, hope you are successful with those fucsia cuttings... to me, my fucsias did not go well...
Cariños,
Maria Cecilia

donna said...

I never have much luck with Fuchsia, but that doesn't stop me from falling prey to their beauty come spring. Let us know how these two plants do this summer.

donna

Marie said...

Maria Cecelia,
Thank you for your well wishes. I need to be attentive to get the fuchsia growing. I hope I don't forget to keep watching them.

Marie said...

Donna,
I hope they make it to summer. I have plans to put the new plants in a slightly larger pot for the shepherds hook. (The pot holder is not large so I can only go slightly larger.) A larger pot should help a little with the constant watering and feeding necessary in the summer. I hope to show a success story (not a Garden Blogers Death Day post.) LOL