Fuchsia triphylla (Fuchsia is the plant, fuschia is the color) plant care is somewhat exacting, but the brilliant flowers will be ample payment for your efforts.
The vivid red, tubular flowers of the F. triphylla make it a stunning addition to the hummingbird garden. Site the plant close to an outdoor sitting area so you can watch the hummers zip from bloom to bloom up close.
Bees and butterflies add to the show.
Fuchsia triphylla is a 2-3 foot shrub with an upright growth habit. The dark green, velvety leaves make a nice foil for the clusters of bright red flowers which dangle from the tip of each shoot.
There is also a variegated triphylla type called 'Firecracker'.
A tender perennial, F. triphylla must be overwintered indoors where temps fall below freezing. Though the University of Connecticut reports that it will survive 25 degrees F. with protection.
This is a shade lover that does well in humid, foggy weather.
It does not perform well in intense heat or direct sun. It is found, in nature, in the mountainous areas of the Caribbean.
F. triphylla used as a hanging plant inside the Longwood Gardens conservatory.
One of the best ways to use this plant in the garden is to plant several of them on 2 foot centers as a low hedge.
This particular Fuchsia is less fussy than most of the other varieties. It will take more sun and tolerate drier soil. If you feed it a bloom boosting fertilizer once a month, it will become a flower factory. The bloom season is summer through fall.
The flowers are followed by small, seed containing berries. In its native habitat, this is how the plant propagates itself. If you prefer to increase your collection by taking cuttings, they will root easily in soil or water. The plants may also be divided.
Part of Fuchsia plant care is managing the pests that tend to plague these plants. Spider mites will attack plants that are under watered or enduring periods of low humidity.
Whitefly is another mischief maker you will likely have to contend with.
Spraying the plants with a systemic insecticide will rid you of both.
Actually, both the plants and the color are spelled f-u-c-h-s-i-a.
The problem is that the common misspelling, fuschia, looks more like the word sounds so people, myself included, tend to keep spelling it that way.
The plant species was named in commemoration of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs.
Most Fuchsia blooms are a purplish pinkish red. As these plants spread throughout the world, this color came to be known as fuchsia.
Fuchs, rest his soul, has been pushing up daisies (or perhaps Fuchsias) since 1566.
People forgot how to spell his name.
Today, there are several shades of pink and purple that the American fashion and cosmetic industries call fuchsia.
They generally spell it fuschia.
However you spell it, it's a beautiful flower and a sizzling hue.