Growing
bush or shrub fuchsias in the ground.
See also standards and columns
Pages
updated and Links fixed May 2010.
If you spot any errors or faulty links, please let me know. |
Join
"The In Ground Fuchsia Group" a new online and
meeting-based group
in the Blue Mountains - Sydney area of NSW.
No
open garden in 2010 but big Fuchsia sale instead click here
for more details
Please note I aim to grow healthy plants with no reference
to competition standards or what books say is the “correct” method.
There are a few tricks to getting fuchsias to grow well in
the ground in our climate particularly cultivars that are lax or trailing
varieties really designed for pots or baskets. Firstly roots have to be
protected from the heat and the frost. I have planted all my fuchsias about 1”
deeper than in the pot see construction of a fuchsia
garden for more details. Then they are heavily mulched – I chose large
gum tree chips about 2” deep.
The next thing is to support the plant until it can support
itself - it is best to let the basic skeleton of the plant become woody so it is
strong enough to support the large amount of growth. Plants grown in the ground
are much larger than in containers. This can be done with one or several short
canes depending on the growth habit. If I grow my own plants from cuttings I
grow a short standard, just let the cutting get to 4 pairs of leaves before
pinching out the top pair then
pinch out at every nodes twice then the usual 2-3 node pinching (remove the
first 3 sets of leaves as soon as you have a few branches) this gives the plant
a short “trunk” that can be buried the 1” lower, then have a short stem
that all the branches come from. This trunk and one of the central branches will
need to be tied to a short stake at least until the root system develops and the
main stem becomes woody.
The main reason for this is to keep branches particularly
those with bunches of flowers trailing on or near the ground. You cannot control
water to your plants (except in dry weather) so if the mulch become saturated by
rain if will be much more liable to encourage diseases if the leaves are in
contact with the mulch. This year I have had a lot of problems with mould and
rust due to a very wet humid summer and have been able to control it better
where the fuchsia foliage is well above the mulch. If the plant has many stems
or keeps sprouting from the base you will need 4-7 short canes arranged in a
sort of circular fan shape. Tie each branch to a cane and allow each one to grow
to about 8-12 inches before
pinching out also shorten any side shoots that the branches make. Pinching out
makes the branch thicken as well as producing side growth. This method works
equally well with upright or trailing plants. You will find that even quite
sturdy upright growing plants will need staking the first year or the branches
will bend down under the weight of the flowers and often break
|
The lower branches of Blush of Dawn have been
removed as they were hanging too low with at least 4 large double blooms
on each branch most of the plant was lying on the mulch. The remaining
branches have been tied to 5 bamboo stakes.
Graffe Witte which is fairly lax has been tied to
5 short bamboo stakes, these don't show much as you can see even at this
early stage just 3 months old. They will probably be removed next year
once the lower branches have become woody and they can support the upper
branches.
 A huge shrub of Ambassador that seems to thrive on heat and frost.
it is about 15 years old it has a 2' woody "skeleton" that I cut back to
each year
|
Water tanks are essential as we are still on water restrictions
can only water 2 days a week in early morning and evening no sprinklers or
above ground watering systems. My tanks were
delivered by crane.
A fungi growing in the very wet November looks great but
smells like rotting flesh and attracts flies. I sprayed it with fungicide
as soon at it stopped raining.
It is hard to see the short trunk in this photo so I
have marked it with at red bracket } |
More soon.
Sports
I had read about sports but never seen one until last year
when my big Pixie standard (see standards)
produced a sucker that I didn’t notice until it was about 14” long as there
is a mass of native violets around its base. It was only when it was in bud that
I noticed it and when the bud opened the corolla was purple not lilac. I
immediately investigated and it definitely was a sucker attached to the main
root about 2” below the surface with about 2” of roots on its own base. I
carefully cut it off at the point where it joined the main root system and
potted it, see standards
for this instant standard method. I also cut 2 cutting from the top and potted
these also. The instant standard grew as did one of the cuttings. I thought I
had a new cultivar, a sport I decided to name after my mother Nellie Cooper who
had just died. Then came the disappointment in a new book there was a picture of
Graffe Witte from which Pixie was produced as a sport. If was very similar to my
“new” plant, was it just a throwback ? I purchased Graffe Witte in Adelaide
and now have both plants planted close together and will see what happens. So
far my sport seems more vigorous with larger flowers and lighter foliage, but
only time will tell – when both plants have grown in the same conditions for
2-3 years I will decide if it a true sport.
|
Graffe Witte left and the sport right.
Graffe Witte
|
February 2006 the sport is growing well.
|
Frost
damage
As
I have said we only get a few night frost each winter but the fact that we do
get frosts governs the pruning schedule. Pruning can be done in April so that
there is time for new growth to harden off before the frost or in September
after the last frost. You will need to access your own situation before deciding
when to prune.
Some
fuchsias are more prone to frost than others generally speaking Tryphilla
fuchsias are frost tender but here they recover as soon as the weather warms up.
|
The tryphilla
hedge along the side verandah
in October 2004 only a few fuchsias planted
in front at this stage.
The entire hedge and most of this
garden was pruned
back
to a few inches from the ground as soon as the
frosts had finished
September. The whips were
planted ready for the growth spurt in spring
February 2006 even with a setback due to the heat everything is looking
good.
March 2006 |
August 2005 badly
frost damaged, the dead leaves were left until the plants began to
sprout and danger of frost was over. The fuchsias in foreground were
also frost damaged
Even by October 2005 everything
was
re-growing and looking healthier.
A shot along the hedge from the bottom.
Feb 2006
|
Some
recommended fuchsias
Two tiny pale pink single fuchsias that
photographed individually look almost identical.
They are F. magellanica alba/molinæ and Whiteknight’s
Pearl which is double the size but still very small. They both grow in a
bushy habit and make excellent standards. I have and “Alba” that is about
7’ high (it was a cutting taken just over a year ago when I moved) it is very
heat resistance and takes some frost. It flowers prolifically and is very
vigorous easy to grow and propagate it has much smaller flowers and smaller
lighter coloured narrower leaves. I haven’t had Whiteknight’s Pearl for very
long but it is a near relative of “Alba” and so far has a similar growing
habit but it is more susceptible to rust. Over the years I have found that large
plants of “Alba” do not transplant well and it is best to put the plant
straight from a 4” pot into the ground in its permanent location. Also they
can suddenly die for no apparent reason so best to take cutting each year and
give them to a friend if you don’t need them yourself. They look good in all
popular shapes - standard, pillar or bush and I am trying them out as part of a
hedge.
White Knight's Pearl trained up the base of one of the posts of the shade
sails
I
would love to hear from other Fuchsia growers; please email me at bcooper1@pacific.net.au
Barbara's Fuchsia
Home page