HARDY FUCHSIAS

Hardy Fuchsias can be traced back to the mid-1800s. They can be used as hedging or in the shrub border, their flowers are similar in shape to the half-hardy varieties, though usually smaller. As their name suggests, can withstand colder winter temperatures than their "tender and trailing" cousins.

Plant them in spring, with the roots slightly deeper than if they were in a container, to offer extra protection during winter. Gardeners, and others, divide fuchsias into hardy species and more tender species. Hardy fuchsias will thrive in any water retentive soil that is well drained. Gleaming like jewels, they rescue a fading garden with an exuberant flurry of late blooms that last well into the autumn.

Given a kind winter, it might well not die back and you will get off to animpressive eye-level start next spring, with even more height promised. There are of course many more of the official non-hardies that will survive the winter months in cooler climates, this is generally determind by the night temperatures during that same time.

Fuchsias are only considered to be truly hardy in practice if planted in the ground all year round. Hardy fuchsias should be left in situ over the winter, but will benefit from a thick (about 2 inches will do it) mulch of bark or compost around the base of the plant.