Cardinal - Bush

'Cardinal' is one of the fastest growing fuchsias I have ever grown! It went from a small cutting to a full sized bush as tall as me in less than one year! You can read about how I found it (aka Larry) in the archived posts here. A friend of mine says he has seen this one growing up to the second story of houses here on the central coast of California, and I believe him because I have seen magellanicas do as well. But magellanica's don't have flowers this big. This one can put out enough new canes (if you imagine roses) full of flowers all spring and summer long, that it could easily produce enough to fill and refill your cut flower vases. Yes, fuchsia make great additions to floral arrangements and the flowers last a long time.

This afternoon and I went and purchased a few new varieties for my collection. I now have 148 varieties. I can't wait to see what the new guys look like when they bloom ;-)

Burgundian - Bush

'Burgundian' is headed for the sky! This is one upright fuchsia about which there can be no doubt, it grows straight upwards, and fast. Not as fast as a magellanica, for example. But certainly faster than all of those surrounding it. Except 'Mood Indigo.' This spring will be it's second year here. Last year it was just a 2" start and now it is in a 15 gallon container. I expect future photos of this one to show a large bush covered with flowers. This photo is from last summer.

Blue Eyes - Bush

'Blue Eyes' is often grown as a hanging basket, but I've grown it as an upright bush in the ground. And without much pruning, it has filled in a low space very well. It's about two feet tall now and as it's trunk ages, I expect it to get to about three feet. 'Blue Eyes' has a bit more shade than most of my collection because it is surrounding on three sides by taller varieties of upright fuchsias, but it hasn't gotten weak or leggy. Best of all, it has never sustained any damage from freezing winter temperatures which have occasionally damaged others.

Black Prince - Bush

'Black Prince' makes a small leaved dense bush about two feet tall. Perhaps more, I keep mine trimmed because it is between two much larger bushes and I wanted a different height there. Unfortunately, that also means it doesn't get as much sun as the others. But it still puts on a year round show. This one also grows much slower than most other upright fuchsias. Making it a great candidate for containes and bonsai. Perhaps even as an indoor blooming houseplant in a sunny window. I am growing a few indoors myself and may bring in a small one of these.

Billie Green - Bush

'Billie Green' is only about six months from a 2" start in this photo! So I expect this one to become a good sized bush in my area. Except that I made the mistake of not covering it when I did cover others, at it was severly burned by a freeze this winter. Some need to be covered and some don't. This one does. Don't quote me on this, but I believe the Triphylla tpes (long orange tinged corollas such as Gartenmeister Bonstadt) are more sensitive to cold snaps. It started to recover immediately afterwards though and will be blooming again soon. The 'Beauty of Cliff Hall' right next to it, didn't notice there was a couple of freezes at all!

Amber Rose - Bush

'Amber Rose' is would be best cascading over the sides of a wall, large container, or down the sides of a slope. It's growth pattern is dense and slow, so if it is used as a hanging basket, it would be best in areas where one intends it to live in that container for years to come. I have chosen 'Amber Rose' to be one of my first efforts at bonsai. I have a beautiful and simple clay oval bonsai pot I set aside for years, thinking about what I wanted to use it for. I planted two starts of 'Amber Rose' in it and have begun to twine the trunks together inside of a curled wire support. In the end, it will look somewhat like the carved jade bonsai statues one sees. Only this one will have these cute little colorful blossoms dangling from the tips of it's branches. To watch it's progress, check out the Fuchsia Forum at DavesGarden.com! The bush in this photo is two years old and in a five gallon container.

Abby Rose - Bush

'Abby Rose' is a mounding bush which is doing very well next to a seven foot high 'F. magellanica molinae.' Abby would be even bigger if it wasn't in the shade of a fence for half of the year. But it fills in the space under the magellanica very well and is a profuse bloomer.

Yes, the alphabet is starting over with photos of each fuchsia in my collection as a bush, if I have been able to take of photo of the variety as a bush. Some are still a bit small. But here it is mid February and they are all busting out with new growth. Many which were just a few inches high when winter set in, are now over a foot high and beginning to produce new flower buds.

Winston Churchill

'Winston Churchill' is a compact small leaved upright bush. In the category of double blossoms with blue corollas, I like this one even better than Quasar. The flowers aren't as big, but the shade of blue in the skirts is more vivid. This one is another summer heat and winter cold champion here in the mountains of the central coast of California. And another one of those which graces my front yard. Only 20 of the 128 in my collection will fit into the front yard, so it is with care that I select which ones are there.

Will Rogers

'Will Rogers' is a big bush right outside my front door! I must really like this one :-) 'Will Rogers' is almost always in bloom with these wonderful little flowers. It does get some shade in the late afternoon from the cherries and other fruit trees, but otherwise, it is out in the full sun. There has never been any damage to it from the high temps in the late summer. And it has never been damaged by the freezes which damage some of the others just a few feet or yards away. Just a wonderful upright fuchsia bush and a joy to see every day. The hummingbirds think so also, it is right next to their feeder. I wonder how big this bush could get if it was in the ground?

White Wonder

'White Wonder' is a bit of a slow grower, but has the potential to get big. My original bush was in an area that didn't get much sun for half of the year. A new one I planted from a cutting is already bigger than it and is located out in the full sun most of the day year round.

I am not as fond of the red and whites as I am of the white and blue combos, but this is one of my favorites. In my zone, this one can often still be blooming at Christmas time and it looks like a natural decoration with it's big red flower buds and that pop open to display the red veined white corolla or skirt.

White Gem

'White Gem' is one of the slower growing and compact upright bushes. Perfect for the small spot in the garden that just needs a bit of color. The white skirt on this one has beautiful red veining in them. There are thousands of fuchsias with the combination of red sepals and white corollas. And it can be difficult sometimes to tell them apart. 'White Gem' stands out among them. This one is only in it's first year with me and the photo was taken only a few months after it's purchase as a 2" start. So how big it can get, actually remains to be seen.

Wendy's Beauty

'Wendy's Beauty' is that, a beauty. One which could be a basket or grown as I have, an upright mounding bush. This isn't a very good photo, so I'll be sure to post a new one soon. The entire collection is pulling out of winter as fast as they can! Wendy's Beauty was one of the first to start putting out flower buds after the freezes. Great big white flower buds that remind me of paper laterns. I have high expectations for this one.

Walz Jubelteen

'Walz Jubelteen' is one of the most upright fuchsias I have seen. This one towers over the fence and has a very interesting pattern on the bark of it's trunk. Like a fine lattice work pattern. Even the dense clusters of flowers on this one point upwards. Almost like 'Erecta Novelty' but better in my opinion. 'Walz Jubelteen' has weathered four summers and four winters now without harm and always has a least a few flowers on it even in the winter. The rest of the year, it is a mass of pink. Yes, pink is not one of my favorite colors, but it is hard not to like such a vigorous fuchsia!

Walz Gigolo

'Walz Gigolo' is a wonderful upright fuchsia bush. Like 'Walz Bella' it has a compact form and grows more sideways than straight up. But it grows faster. I like the smaller leaves and the abundance of these richly hued little double blossoms. It is both heat and cold hardy. This bush is just a few feet from 'Walz Bella' and was not harmed a bit in the freezes this winter.

Walz Bella

'Walz Bella' is an interesting fuchsia. The corolla and sepals are a bit different than most others. One would guess that the long sepal means a Triphylla may have been in the parentage. But the flower is much wider and stouter than most Triphylla hybrids. This is a vigorous upright bush which does very well in the heat of summer. This winter though, it was very damaged by the freezes which also damaged other Triphylla hybrids. It is growing out of it very well though. This one tends to grow dense and to the sides more than straight up. It could fill in a large spot easily.

Voodoo

'Voodoo' has been in my yard for over a decade. It is almost as tall as me and grew out of it's container and put roots down into the soil years ago. It would be even bigger if I wasn't constantly cutting off large chunks of it to keep it out of the two walk ways that it borders. Of course, it has survived many a hot summer out in the full sun and many a freezing cold winter. If you go to DavesGarden.com and read the fuchsia forum there, you will see what this winters freezes did to my 'Billie Green' and 'F. boliviana's! 'Voodoo' didn't have any damage at all! And as usual, never stopped blooming. If you can't wait to see a photo of the entire bush, you can always visit DavesGarden or my website. Aren't these blossoms incredible? Just imagine a big bush full of them! That is what I get to see every morning.

Voltaire

'Voltaire' has that interesting flared skirt which makes some of the single fuchsias a bit different from the norm. It has a compact definite upright growth pattern and is always covered with flowers. Out in the full sun last summer, it did fine. And has done equally well this winter. Several other fuchsias were severely burned by freezing temps, but 'Voltaire' was among those which showed no evidence of there being a freeze.

Vinegar Joe

'Vinegar Joe' is one of the five varieties I knew I had to have way back when I first began collecting upright fuchsias! 'Preston Guild', 'Marin Glow', 'F. magellanica molinae', and 'Mrs. J. D. Fredricks' were the other four. All five have small simple flowers in abundance, my favorite type of fuchsia. And my hummingbirds seem to agree! All five can take the full summer sun here on the central coast of California and all five have weathered many a freezing winter. Winters with snow and hail which killed many other perennials here. Even if they were damaged by freezing, they always rebounded shortly afterwards. My "Fantastic Five!"

Trisha

'Trisha' is so beautiful, what else can I say? This photo is not the best and I am not sure yet whether the slow growth of this bush is my fault or just the way this variety grows. Like a number of the uprights in my collection, this one could also be considered a hanging basket fuchsia as it has a mounding form. But it also has the ability to form a nice thick trunk and can be pruned into a more upright form. A good example of what this technique can do for a bush of this type, is my ten year old Voodoo. It is almost four feet tall and four feet wide now and always in bloom. Trisha suddenly started to grow much faster last year, so this year I am looking forward to a great show! PS, the lower leaves in this photo are a columbine which came up in the pot.

Torch

'Torch' is a dizzy blaze of color! And a double upright to boot! This photo is shows how bushy it was even when it was still just in a one gallon pot last summer. But if you look close, you will see that the very double skirts are a marbled blend of purple, orange, and salmon. When this one gets bigger, I bet it is going to attract allot of attention. Now the question is, does it have a good tasting berry?

Thomasina

'Thomasina' is one of my favorites because of the deep orange tones to the corolla it has. And of course it is a simple skirt. It doesn't grow as fast as some uprights, or maybe it would have already if it hadn't of battled the fuchsia gall mite for the first two years I had it. The gall mite was attacking a number of fuchsias in my neighbors yards back then. Fortunately they began to use the necessary insecticides to battle the mite and my efforts were rewarded as well. The hummingbirds bring the mite from infected fuchsias and the growth will look as though something has gone very wrong genetically. Sometimes it will look like the leaves and flowers had been melted together as if they were wax. I don't mind doing battle with the gall mite in order to have the varieties of upright fuchsias I love. Gardeners have to put even more effort into growing roses or a nice lawn! It just requires regular preventative spray or a time released granules such as the one Bayer puts out. If you do see evidence of the gall mite, cut off the infected area immediately, don't touch your other fuchsias before washing your hands and tools, and spray every 7 days until you can see that new growth is mite free. Again, many of us spend even more time and resources growing many other types of plants because we enjoy them so much. My 'Thomasina' survived and is going very well now. The one thing I do try to do though, for the sake of my hummingbirds, is to spray so late in the afternoon that it is almost dark and they will not be flying around, nor drinking from the flowers. New flowers will open the next day for them.