'Autumn Orange' 2012

'Autumn Orange' is one of my personal favorites.  I love the rich colors on this little semi-double blossom.  'Autumn Orange' is now in the direct path of the deer who come through here every night.  She survived freezing this last winter, gophers last fall, and several nibbles by the deer.  Liquid Deer Fence is expensive but very effective if used on a weekly basis when plants are growing fast.  At least once a week, more often if it rains or drizzles, I walk through quickly misting everything.  This has enabled us to even grow a huge vegetable garden out in the open!!  One misstep though, can mean major setbacks.  I missed the new leaves of our young new fruit orchard and in one evening the dear stripped every leaf off of all of them.  Fortunately, I haven't made that mistake again and all are recovering!!

'Mary Miloni' 2012

'Mary Miloni' is proving herself to be a vigorous upright fuchsia bush!  This photo doesn't do her justice.  The flowers are massive, as big as any hanging basket bloom I have seen.  And the corolla or skirt starts out a beautiful shade of deep purple.  The tops of the sepals are white.  I will try to get a better shot posted soon!

'Delta's Parade' 2012

'Delta's Parade' is a trouper!  I have never seen it without at least one or two blossoms on it no matter what time of year it is.  And I have them in several locations, from out in the full sun to the partial shade, and none of them froze this winter.

'Quasar' 2012

'Quasar' is one of those I can never grow enough of!  This stock plant did very well near the edge of a huge oak.  So it gets full morning sun and had the protection of the leaves overhead in the winter, so it did not freeze.  Many people grow them in hanging baskets, but it makes a stunning show as a large bush in a 15 gallon container!

'Fanfare' 2012

'Fanfare' is a stunning reminder of the varied forms fuchsias can come in which most people would not think of.  It is also a great example of how they can survive in a far wider range of conditions than people realize.  This is another one of the stock plants that froze to ground level and has come back with as much vigor as any rose out in the full sun.  Throwing out new four and five foot "canes" with more on the way.  Looking at these huge glossy leaves, one would have no idea it is a fuchsia until it begins to bloom!

'Blue Eyes' 2012

'Blue Eyes' is often grown in a hanging basket, but doesn't trail well and does much better as a low bush.  Plus, fuchsias grown in hanging baskets cannot live as long as they could because they quickly outgrow their containers.
Fuchsia bushes can live for over a century!  And they develop thick trunks with interesting bark.
This makes some of the slower growing varieties great candidates for bonsai.  A growing technique which should be employed to keep hanging baskets alive far longer than most.

'Dancing Stars' 2012

'Dancing Stars' are in a "cage" to protect them from hungry deer.  The deer this year have been very bold, even feeding during the day along busy highways.  Liquid Deer Fence works very well.  But this time of year, when things are growing fast, it is necessary to spray often.  So I have begun to surround some of the smaller bushes with cages.  That way, if the deer do get to them, they won't get much.
Meanwhile, aren't these the cutest little flowers!?

'Rohees New Millennium' 2012

'Rohees New Millennium' is such a dark shade of purple it is almost black!  It is a vigorous grower and made it through this winter without a singe.  It is still in a 15 gallon container and is only in the full sun for the first half of the day.  I plan on seeing how well a new one does planted out in the full sun later this fall.
As it is best to either plant fuchsias in the early spring or late fall when it begins to cool down if you are going to plant fuchsias into the ground out in the full sun.  A large and healthy root system is vital to most plants ability to thrive in the full sun.

'Yolanda Franck' 2012

'Yolanda Franck' is proving to be a great addition to my upright fuchsia collection with vigorous and definite upward growth.  I am looking forward to seeing how high she can grow out here in the full sun of zone 9b.  All of the uprights would get taller in the shade, but I want to show that they are not just for the shade or even semi-shade.  The only time I have seen them damaged by the sun is if it is hot enough to even singe my roses.  And then, just like the roses, they grow out of it.  They need more water than roses and only good size plants should be grown out in the full sun.  If you are starting with small plants, then transplant them as early in the spring as possible or late fall when temperatures have begun to cool down and they can grow a good root system before the next spring.  A large healthy root system is vital to any plant growing out in the full sun.

'Winston Churchill' 2012

'Winston Churchill' will always be at the top of my list of favorites!  It is a cute little compact hardy upright fuchsia.  I love the blues in the double "skirt" on it.
All of the photos being posted this year of 2012 are new photos being taken as the stock plants recover from a freezing winter that took many down to ground level, and deer that ate many of the first attempts to bloom.
There wasn't much to offer this spring.  But the collection is now at 265 upright varieties and since the season is over for safely shipping small starts, the focus is having all of those varieties available for next spring and most available by this fall for the warmer zones where they bloom year round.

'Georgeanna' 2012

'Georgeanna' is a new addition to my collection and this is the first open bloom I've seen.  What a cutie!  I have a larger bush covered with new flower buds, but none are open yet so I couldn't wait and snapped this photo of an extra one.  The official description lists it as a double with pink sepals and grey & blue corollas.  And it is a grey blue with a bit of pink blush.  'Georgeanna' was hybridized by Tiret in 1955.

'Blue Flame' 2012

'Blue Flame' is a weather hardy upright which grows into a dense bush packed with tons of these red and blue/purple flowers.  This one would make a great low clipped hedge.  Did you know they use upright fuchsias as hedges in Europe?

'Hayward' 2012

'Hayward' is one the hardy upright fuchsias named after cities I am trying to collect.  Like 'San Leandro', 'City of Pacifica', and 'Los Angeles.'  It is not as big a bloom as 'Leslie', but has a much darker shade of blue.

'Abby Rose' 2012

Occasionally ones sees a generic upright fuchsia for sale at the big box stores with no name other than "fuchsia".  Often the tag even describes them as annuals when they are all perennials which can live a century or longer!!
So years ago I named this one after my niece, "Abby Rose".  And even if it turns out some day to have a name, this one will forever be 'Abby Rose' here.

'Rohees New Millenium' 2012

Wait till you see this one open!  With dark aubergine double sepals.  This photo reminds me of the original nick name given to fuchsias, "Angels Earrings".  Don't they look like jewels?  Few flowers have the colorful flower buds (sepals) that fuchsias do.  Putting on a show before the flower even opens.  'Rohees New Millenium' made it through this winter with flying colors and is currently one of the largest bushes in my collection!

'Aintree' 2012

'Aintree' is so white it is hard to get a good photo, but I will certainly try again!  The bright "rose" pink of the corolla is what most people think of when they hear a color described as "fuchsia".  But as you can see from other posts here, pinning down a color for the word fuchsia should be anything but simple!
This is a young bush, and as it grows I will prune it to stay off of the ground.  I'd like to plant a low growing ground cover under the bushes, but for now, it is more important to keep a watchful eye for any gopher activity.  So the ground will be kept bare until this winter when a heavy layer of hay for mulch will be laid down.

'Marin Glow' 2012

'Marin Glow' broke in half when it was being put into the ground here at the new location this past winter.  So I quickly stripped the broken half of most of it's leaves and buried it in the ground at the same time.  I had heard it was possible to root perennials this way in the winter time, and had success doing this with branches of lavender and lemon verbena.  This is a photo of the growth from that broken branch!  The flowers are past their dark purple blue stage and into the lighter phase already.

'Bagdad' 2012

'Bagdad' is a cute low growing compact bush with these delightful little double blossoms.  Doing very well out in the full sun in the ground and also did very well through the winter.

'Charming' 2012

'Charming' is a new addition to my collection I have not yet seen bloom, but the foliage is so unusual compared to most fuchsias, that I had to post of photo of it anyway.  The flower is going to be a single red and purple toned flower.  This variety was first introduced by Lye in 1877!!  It is the older cultivars I am searching for first.  So if you have an upright you don't see on the list I have so far on the website, please write me and let me know.  Perhaps we can do a trade.

'Minnesota' 2012

Minnesota is making a comeback!  This was a huge bush and you can still see the main trunk of it in the middle of all of this new growth.  The fuchsias which sustained the worst freezing damage were all along the road.  I believe that the unusually cold winter combined with the wind chill factor of passing cars, is why all of the big bushes I planted in this area when I moved the nursery here, froze to ground level.
They are all planted in big deep holes to provide lots of room for a deep layer of mulch and prevent water from running off instead of sinking in.  I didn't think that layer of mulch was going to be needed here, but I was wrong.  So this winter they will all be getting a nice thick winter blanket of hay.