Perennial fuchsia will become your favorite ornamental plant this summer! Here are the most rustic and pretty varieties

Fuchsias are very popular flowering shrubs for beds and planters due to their magnificent blooming, which lasts from summer to fall. The flowers look like little jewels that come in a beautiful palette of colors. Some varieties are hardy enough to be grown as perennials, along with hydrangeas. So, if you want to enjoy the spectacular adornment of the plant season after season, don’t hesitate to choose perennial fuchsia. Its bushy and semi-drooping port will bring cheerfulness and a sophisticated aestheticism to your flower beds in front of the house and your beds in the partial shade. You can even prune it from an ornamental low hedge. Read on and learn more about caring for perennial fuchsia.

Are fuchsias perennial?

Typically, fuchsias are cold-sensitive, but many hardy varieties can be grown outdoors year-round, as perennial shrubs. They will be visited by bees during flowering and are a good food plant for the caterpillars of the greater vine hornworm. Perennial fuchsia is a vigorous bushy plant that blooms all summer. It forms tufts of bells, often two-colored, very decorative. The foliage is deciduous.

What are the varieties of perennial fuchsia?

Perennial fuchsia varieties bloom until frost. They are rustic and can withstand the cold (down to -15 °). In winter, if the frost destroys the shrub branches, new shoots will appear at the base in the spring. Among the most beautiful perennial varieties, it is imperative to note:

Delta’s Sarah
Riccarton
The royal fuchsia or Fuchsia regia Reitzii
Alice Hoffman
Beacon rosa
The climbing fuchsia Lady Boothby
Rose de Castille
The fuchsia Brutus
Mrs. Popple
The fuchsia of Magellan, Fuchsia magellanica

Caring for perennial fuchsia

If you plan to grow a perennial fuchsia in the ground, in your garden, or a pot, on the terrace, do not hesitate to consult our grow sheet full of good information on the long flowering ornamental shrub.

Flowering period: generally, from June to the end of October
Exposure: ideally partial shade or shade
Type of soil: light, rich
Planting: from September to May, excluding periods of frost
Watering: normal, regular during the beautiful season
Ideal use for: flower bed, hedge, border, driveway, balcony, terrace

In practice: Plant the fuchsia outside the periods of frost, in light and cool soil. Give the shrub a location sheltered from the wind, ideally in partial shade. If you plan to plant fuchsia in the ground, space the plants 50 to 80 cm apart. After planting, water copiously. During the beautiful season, it is important to water regularly to keep the soil cool. If you are wondering how to prune a perennial fuchsia, we answer you right away. Prune the shrub in autumn by cutting back the secondary stems to about 15 cm from the ground to keep only the lignified stems. In spring, new twigs will appear.

Many varieties grow wonderfully in containers. Creeping habit fuchsias, for example, are great for growing in hanging baskets. Give your perennial fuchsia a pot that is wider than it is deep. Good drainage is essential. A layer of gravel or clay balls will do just fine. Never leave the saucer filled with water. Otherwise, the roots will be in danger of rotting.

Where to plant a perennial fuchsia?

Give perennial fuchsia a spot with dappled or partial shade and without too much direct afternoon sun. The flowering shrub is not demanding as to the type of soil, as long as it is well-drained. Avoid replanting perennial fuchsias: they don’t tolerate replanting, so be sure to grow them in a place where they won’t need to be moved.

When and how to cut the shrub?

April and May are the perfect months to cut fuchsia. Once the cuttings are rooted and planted, they will give a beautiful, colorful bloom in June. Propagating the plant with cuttings is easy and a great way to increase your reserves for free. You can take 10 cuttings from each mother plant. A few tips :

• The day before the cuttings, water the fuchsia abundantly.
• Take cuttings early in the day or later in the evening. When it is very hot and very bright, the cutting will dehydrate more quickly, hamper growth.
• Make sure the mother plant is not sick, as only healthy plants produce strong, healthy cuttings.
• Before moving the new cuttings outside, make sure they are well-rooted. It is equally important that the temperatures are mild and pleasant.
• When cutting, make the cuts at a 45-degree angle so that the water that falls on the cutting is directed away from the bud.

Hardy varieties to grow as perennials and their advantages

Delta’s Sarah fuchsia

This strain is wonderful with its two-tone double flowers, whose white sepals contrast with the blue-purple petals. It is perfect for brightening up the dark corners of the garden. Delta’s Sarah is an upright, strong-growing shrub. Flowering is abundant from early summer until frost. Attractive to bees and hummingbirds, this flowering shrub is very decorative and sublimates flower beds, borders, and planters. It reaches a height of about 90 cm tall and wide.

Exposure: light shade or partial shade, without direct sun
Soil: moist, fertile, well drained
Use: flower beds, borders, English garden, containers
Maintenance : protect the shrub from frost in winter; at the end of flowering, prune the fuchsia by cutting back the stems.

Alice Hoffman fuchsia

Alice Hoffman is a small, drooping variety that is considered a dwarf. It is adorned with remarkable white and pink flowers and bronzed green foliage. Very decorative and showy, it is invaluable when grown isolated in a large pot or container.

Exposure: partial shade, sun
Soil: moist, cool, well drained
Use: isolated, on the edge, mixed in a pot, in suspension
Maintenance: fairly hardy, this variety can be planted in the ground, provided it is mulched. foot in winter by prudence.

The fuchsia Beacon rosa

The Beacon rosa variety is very floriferous and quite hardy. This perennial fuchsia blooms from June to September and adorns the beds in partial shade with its magnificent pink flowers. Plant the shrub next to the beaches and assurances, which will bring out its pink petals. It goes very well with perennial geraniums, ferns, hostas, or even hellebores. This drooping fuchsia reaches 60 cm in height.

Exposure: sun, shade
Soil: normal, dry, well drained
Use: pot, container, hedge, clump
Maintenance: water regularly in the summer of the first year of planting; protect the foot in cold climates; cut back dry branches in spring; to make it easier to protect the plant from the cold, cut it down in autumn.

Lady Boothby fuchsia

Lady Boothby is a perennial fuchsia with a climbing habit. The shrub is vigorous and frost-resistant. It produces pretty semi-double bell flowers that are purplish-purple and bright pink-red. They brighten up the garden all summer. The variety can reach 2.5 meters in height.

Exposure : partial shade or sun
Soil: rich, cool, draining
Use: in a pot, against a wall, at the bottom of a massif
Maintenance: offer it a warm exposure, sheltered from cold and dry winds; fertilizer applications in spring are highly recommended; to stimulate flowering, cut the shrub flush every 2 years at the end of winter.

The fuchsia of Magellan Riccartonii

It is the hardiest variety of fuchsias. It is shrubby and enjoys abundant flowering that lasts all summer. The two-tone flowers are red and a crimson violet. This fuchsia can exceed 1.2 meters in height after a few years to become a spectacular low hedge. It is also cultivated in pots, which you must enter in a greenhouse before the first frosts.

Exposure: sun, partial shade
Soil: rich, light, moist, well-drained
Use : hedge, isolated, clump, container
Maintenance: add compost again in spring; water abundantly during the first year; prune the shrub very short before the first frosts and protect the stump with straw or dead leaves.

A nice composition of fuchsia, heather and sage in a pot

Delta’s Sarah in a pot