Standard Fuchsias

Good blog.
You've described so well how you had success with the cuttings. :o)

What a tip thank so much I love this place everone helps each othre out I will try this Oh how fun. They are so beautiful. Happy Easter to you my new friend.

Although the photos are of the last few years the blog is actually describing what I did back at the beginning of the '80s! I will look & see if I can find the original photos of the standards. I took a lot of photos but not all of them have been scanned into the computer yet.

Then I had a whole lot of standard Fuchsias & to keep them from blowing over, they were in pots then, I tied a length of string from one side of the garden, (yes, I did have a garden back then!) to the other. They were different colours as well.

I also had a half standard, my first attempt at growing standard Fuchsias, that flowered beautifully for several years in a big flower tub underplanted with dwarf Fuchsias.

Congratulations on your fuchsias. I've been collecting them for many years but never seem to get much success with cuttings.

They seem to grow like weeds for me! I have no problem with cuttings & only very rarely buy plants. A few years ago I did buy some small plants when they had a special offer on at a supermarket.

One thing left to do though is to try to grow them from my own seed. Every year a few flowers escape my deadheading attempts & manage to set seed & even ripen into big, fat black pods. On several occasions I've kept these pods but when they have finished drying it's too late to plant them & I have never been very careful in keeping them to sow in spring.

One way around that problem could be to let a couple of flowers go to seed at the BEGINNING of the summer then sow the seeds before autumn sets in!

Well done, with your cuttings

I stick my cuttings in water and they root easily then pot them up. Have you tried that way?
I love the standards had a go with one of my Delta Sarahs then the wind blew it over and knocked of the growing tip! I still have it though its just started putting out leaves will post a photo when it flowers

I might just give this a go. you make it sound so straight forward. excellent clear instructions.

Do give it a go, Seabumgirl! But you must remember that you have to keep your cutting tied to a cane & not to let the sideshoots get longer than 2 pairs of leaves, then pinch out the tip. You have to keep at it or all the energy will go into them instead of making the lead shoot grow higher. You must keep it tied in constantly but not so tight that you strangle it. The most difficult part is repotting! You will need to repot several times during the growing season! The secret is to keep your cutting growing without stops.

When it reaches the hight you want, say 3 ft, at the base of the branches, you need to keep it growing for another couple of inches before breaking out the growing tip. Then cut off the tips of the new branches just as soon as you see the tiniest flower bud to encourage the growth of new branches. Don't let any branch develop flower buds for the first year.

The second year you have to keep an eye on how the branches develop, you don't want them to grow into the centre so cut them out very early. Pinch the branches out a couple of time but make sure the sideshoots all have the same number of pairs of leaves so that it looks symmetrical.
You can then let it flower.

The ones you see on this page were damaged by a cold, strong wind which burnt away the foliage on the windward side & the branches never recovered. Though the two of the three plants continued, & still continue, to grow & flower.

Just a few days ago I reordered my balcony ready for summer as I do every year. I have a big, round table in the best protected corner of the balcony & that's where my standard Fuchsias spend the winter. I have an enormous transparent, (now semi!) plastic bag I got from work 6 or 7 years ago. I put it on the table & then I put the Fuchsias at the back, nearest the windows, as that way they have the greatest protection from freezing winds & weather. Then I fill the table with all the other plants that wouldn't resist a frost, like Geraniums, Fuchsias & other plants I keep from year to year. Then I raise the sides & they are protected from the worst of the inclemencies of the winter - even a winter that we had this year!

When a particularly cold night is forecast I close the bag as much as possible & hold it closed with clothes pegs. That way I've kept dozens of plants ticking over every winter & have had few casualties.