{"id":4363,"date":"2014-08-13T03:59:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T07:59:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-13T17:49:08","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T21:49:08","slug":"a-summer-porch-display-of-upright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardern.co.za\/2014\/08\/a-summer-porch-display-of-upright\/","title":{"rendered":"DISPLAYING A COLLECTION OF VARIOUS FUCHSIAS"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nThis summer I have been assembling and training a collection of about 25 upright fuchsia selections, some historical, others just curious, which I am training to be either standards ( topiary) or bush uprights, a method of growing fuchsias once popular in conservatory displays at botanic gardens and private estates were gardeners trained fuchsias for summer displays in greenhouses or on the porches of grand, summer cottages in Newport and Connecticut. If you are looking for true coral colored flowers, long, delicate clouds of bee-sized blossoms in shades of lavender-grey or peachy pink, with little skirts or magenta and raspberry looking more like those engravings from a nineteenth century fairy tale book than a floral display, than maybe these old-timey fuchsias are for you.<\/p>\n
\n \n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n | \nUpright fuchsia varieties have all types of blossoms. Some are very small, others quite large, but they all hang.<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n \n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \nThere are many reasons why good plants can’t become commercial, and certainly, height is one of them – just try to find a perennial taller than 16 inches at a home center or big box store nursery – the reasons are more practical than one might think – they just don’t fit on the shelves, so merchandising is out of the question. One is most likely to find small fuchsias, in bloom and in 4 inch pots for window boxes (treated with growth regulators) than any interesting species or selections known for their amazing floral color or display. All this aside from those horrid hanging basket fuchsias (nothing wrong with them, ecxept that I find them revolting).<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n Me? I just find upright fuchsias so much more interesting than weeping varieties often found at garden centers. Tall canes with a single stem trained upright, carefully pinched and trimmed until a woody stem is formed, and then a bushy flower chandelier with pendant blossoms, some lifted to eye level where one can appreciate them more.<\/p>\n My Fuchsia’s this year are just starting to bloom, here are some of my best trained varieties:<\/p>\n Click below for more!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n \nI know, another crazy Matt project – as if I don’t have enough to do. But hey, these all keep my life interesting as I become bored easily. I suppose if I had gardeners, or a staff, I would drive them crazy with more intensive projects, but until I win the lottery (if I played it!), the only gardener is me. And I think I can only handle about 30 fuchsias, which will winter over in the cold greenhouse and hopefully become more beautiful next summer, as these are plants which will need to build some woody age to them before they reach their potential. This year, I am lucky to have just a few blossoms to share with you. Above, are some of the varieties I have so far in the collection.<\/p>\n
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