Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii is a shrub that can be planted in the ground and is resistant to cold. A discovery presented to you by Roland Motte, our gardener.
Do you like fuchsias for their pretty red, pink, purple bells, but don’t want to endure the chore of bringing in the pots every winter? Roland Motte, the gardener of France Bleu Lorraine and France Bleu Besançon, offers you Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii, a variety to be planted in the ground and which withstands the winters of our region.
Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii can stand the cold!
Unlike the traditional hybrid fuchsia with large flowers that must be brought in in winter because it fears the cold, the Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii is a plant in the ground that can withstand temperatures of minus 15 degrees and that can grow up to at one meter 20, even two meters high.
Plant a Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii
We will plant it, rather, sheltered from the wind, if possible in a shady situation. It likes fresh and very humus soils. You can add compost regularly. It is possible to plant it as a hedge by putting about one individual every meter. The interest of this Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii is above all its flowering which will come on all parts of the plant, with small flowers of about 3 cm in length, with a purple and red color, flowers which are very honey-bearing .
Caring for Fuchsia Magellanica Riccartonii
It is a plant capable of withstanding fairly high temperatures. You just have to water it the first year, it’s important. You can bring in compost regularly. We will prune it at the beginning of spring, but it is mainly a cleaning, particularly by removing dry or damaged branches after winter.
You can even grow it in a pot and you can bring it into the veranda, which will prolong its flowering until the dead of winter.
– Roland Motte
Find Roland Motte on France Bleu Lorraine and France Bleu Besançon and on his site www.rolandmotte.fr.