an easy stunning addition you any garden or window box (Fucshia)

Member Name: ellesmellycat

Product:	Fucshia
Date:	30/06/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy and stunning

Disadvantages: not all frost hardy

Fuchsias are some of the most stunning plants you can have in you garden! And as a bonus they are really easy to grow.

There are roughly 100 different types of fuchsia and are native to warmer climates (so will need a bit of looking after if you have them in your garden) while the leaves are much to talk about it's the flowers that these are grown for.

The flower come on a long stalk with a fruit (where the seeds are produced) and the flowers at the end, they start as a teardrop shaped coloured items then explode with colour and life. The simplest ones will have a bell shaped interior and a number of petals on the outside, the more exotic ones will have-instead of a simple bell- a number of ruffles, and are quite spectacular.

The come in a wide range of colour and colour combinations, from white, intense red and the deepest purple. One small plant can hold 20-30 flowers at a single time making a very spectacular display! To keep the plant flowering over the whole summer, you'll need to pull the dead flowers and the fruits off (just remember the plants aim is to produce seed, once its produced seed it will stop flowering, so if you don't let it produce seed it will keep flowering).

Some Fuchsias are hardy and can be kept outside year round, most will need to be popped in the shed over the winter and just kept damp. They are very sensitive to frost and one night can kill them. I keep all of mine in pots so they can be moved inside easily. A general rule is the larger the leave and more exotic the flower the less hardy they are.

Another great thing is how easy they are to cultivate, just take a cutting and pop it in a pot, keep it watered and it should start growing in to a new plant! Just remove and few of the lower leaves, and if you have add some rooting powder.

To buy new, a mid sized plant will cost about £5, a small plug as little as 20p, both will grow large over the summer. Standards are easy to make by removing lower leaves.

Summary: great for a splah of colour