Stacking planters ready to be planted with fuchsias.

Starting up a fuchsia project. I was inspired by the BFS’s Thalia Tree at the RHS-Malvern Autumn Show a couple of years ago to attempt my own cascading columnar version.

Syringa x 'Smsjbp7' a.k.a. Boomerang. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Syringa ‘Bloomerang’. Sort of. Its registered cultivar name is really Syringa x 'Smsjbp7'. I wish they would include a pronunciation on the label. The trade name is somewhat appropriate, though. This lilac will send out a few flowers throughout the summer.

Iberis sempervirens. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Iberis sempervirens, or candytuft. One of the few plants left from before the Evil Master Plan & Garden Makeover. Its name doesn’t refer to sweets but comes from Candia, former name of Heraklion on Crete. Interestingly it’s in the cabbage family (Brassicaciae).

Your forecast for tomorrow is probably 80.

Is that SNOW? 🥶

Fuchsia kirkii, an invalid synonym, was described by Joseph Hooker in 1871 from the male form but he later recognized his error. 3/3

The species is trioecious (subdioecious) with hermaphrodite, male, and female flowers on different plants. 2/2

Fuchsia procumbens ‘Variegata’

What’s flowering in the Fuchsiarium? Fuchsia procumbens ’Variegata’. This adaptable, sprawling species is native, but uncommon, on the coast of New Zealand’s North Island, where can even grow in sand right down to the water line. 1/3

Fr. Charles Plumier and Dr. Leonhart Fuchs.

Sixth Annual World
FUCHSIA DAY
APRIL 20, 2025
Celebrate the Fuchsia and the 380th birthday of Fr. Charles Plumier, Father of the First Fuchsia, who described it in honor of Dr. Leonhart Fuchs.

Western serviceberry or shadbush, Amelanchier alnifolia. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? The western serviceberry or shadbush, Amelanchier alnifolia.

Dwarf bearded Iris ’Scoundrel’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? The dwarf bearded Iris ’Scoundrel’.

Seems like we went live for a bit.

Looking good!

The hardy orchids are poppin’ & shakin’. Soon Pleione ‘Tongariro’ will say hello!

Bud spitting open on Fuchsia ‘Whiteknights Amethyst’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Fuchsia ‘Whiteknights Amethyst’ reminding of Emily Dickinson:

“I tend my flowers for thee —
Bright Absentee!
My Fuchsia's Coral Seams
Rip — while the Sower — dreams —“

Makes it easier to find you for Orchideliveries ™. 🤣

There’s another NZ native, the NZ flax, Phormium ‘Platt’s Black’, in the background. I’m going to plant Fuchsia procumbens at the feet of the Corokia to scramble into its branches for a little Aotearoa corner in the garden. 3/3

NZ has a large number of such interesting plants with divaricating branching. It’s speculated that the habit perhaps evolved to foil browsing by now-extinct moa. If I see one in this garden, I’ll certainly let you know. 2/3

Corokia cotoneaster. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Tiny fragrant yellow flowers on Corokia cotoneaster, the wire-netting bush or korokia-tarango, from New Zealand with its decorative zig-zag branches. 1/3

Dwarf bearded Iris ‘Going in Circles’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? The dwarf bearded Iris ‘Going in Circles’.

Narcissus jonquilla ‘New Baby’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Narcissus jonquilla ‘New Baby’.

Citrus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’. #Gardening #Poncirus

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Citrus trifoliata ‘Flying Dragon’, the hardy orange. Should be a bumper crop of aromatic fruit on it this year!

Uvularia grandiflora, a.k.a. merrybells. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Uvularia grandiflora, a.k.a. merrybells. It had gotten hidden behind an overbearing dwarf Kerria that got taken away and has come into its own again.

Iris x pacifica ‘Native Warrior’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Another Western native, Iris x pacifica ‘Native Warrior’, is starting up. Its raspberry purple flowers stand out dramatically from a compact grassy clump of evergreen foliage that gets to about a foot tall (30cm).

Ribes sanguineum 'King Edward VII'. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? Ribes sanguineum 'King Edward VII', a selection of our native flowering currant. The hummingbirds love its showy clusters of flowers even more that I do.

Fuchsia splendens. #Gardening

Meanwhile back in the Fuchsiarium, it’s Fuchsia splendens. The species is native from SW Mexico into Panama and is noted for the variableness of its flowers. This selection is smaller, darker, and overall more compact. It may the one once creatively sold by the old Annie’s Annuals as ‘Père Noël’.

I now look forward to their exuberant red blossoms joyfully breaking through the sunshine yellow foliage of their neighbor every spring. Let’s hear it for accidental pairings! 2/2

Red tulips and the golden foliage of Fuchsia ‘Genii’. #Gardening

What’s flowering at the Fuchsietum? I wasn’t aware of these tulips when I set Fuchsia ‘Genii’ in this spot early the first spring in the new garden. The bulbs were planted by the previous owners and are anonymous. 1/2

Fuchsia ‘Herb de Jacques’. #Gardening

Some fuchsias are just as excited for spring as any showy tulip or flowering cherry. This is Fuchsia’ ‘Herb de Jacques’. Like ‘Tom West’, it’s another variegated sport of the classic ‘Corallina’. In contract to its better-known sibling, though, its variegation will become colorfully mottled.

Fuchsia fulgens ‘Variegata’. #Gardening

What’s flowering in the Fuchsiarium? Fuchsia fulgens ‘Variegata’. It got pruned back a few weeks ago and has started performing again.