Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Description:

A striking fuchsia variety featuring nodding flowers in shades of red and purple against the sea green foliage flushed with salmon and cream; very attractive to hummingbirds; a dense self supporting round shrub that has shown to be resistant to mites

Ornamental Features

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia features dainty nodding dark red trumpet-shaped flowers with purple overtones and white anthers along the branches from mid summer to mid fall. Its attractive pointy leaves remain bluish-green in colour with distinctive coral-pink spots and tinges of creamy white throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia is a dense multi-stemmed annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.