July 2023 Plant Profile: Hummingbird Fuchsia
Family: Onagraceae (evening primrose family)
Genus: Fuchsia
Species: magellanica
Common Name: Hardy Fuchsia, Magellan Fuchsia, Hummingbird Fuchsia
Description: Deciduous, multi-caned, arching shrub 2-10 ft. tall. Its leaves are opposite and deep green above and paler underneath with purple veins. Flowers are prolific and bloom from early May to first frost in our PNW climate.
The Genus was named as an honorarium for German Physician and Botanist, Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), whose carefully illustrated botanical drawings and publications set the standard for future botanical illustrators. The species name refers to F. magellanica’s native environment of southern Chile and Argentina near the Magellan Straits.
Cultivation:
Hardy fuchsias love sun and do fine in part shade. Once established they tend to be drought hardy plants – I have one in my yard that I never water in summer and it has thrived over the past 15 years. They are the hardiest species of the Fuchsia genus and are rated for USDA Zones 6 & 7.
The tops of the canes tend to die back in the winter, and they can look a bit scrappy, but in spring when deadwood is pruned down to viable stems areas they will perk right back up, growing quite a prolific amount of new stem shoots. Soon after they start to leaf out, they bud up and look great covered in flowers for about five months – which is a very long bloom season for any plant.
As if that is not enough to convince a garden enthusiast to plant one or more in their gardens – they attract and feed Hummingbirds for nearly half the year!
Maintenance: Water regularly the first few years to establish plants. These shrubs can be pruned hard to control size and shape or left alone to grow into large shrubs.
For those who want to try planting and growing but would like to do further research I suggest the NW Fuchsia Society web page which has helpful tips for PNW growing and a list of recommended cultivars. Link: http://www.nwfuchsiasociety.com/
History: The best article I found on the history of European discovery of Fuchsia magellanica in South America was on the following web site: https://blog.thompson-morgan.com/history-of-fuchsias/
Cultivated Varieties: Pollen stain tests conducted in the Pacific Northwest by members of the Western Fuchsia Species Society have indicated that almost all of the many garden selections of this species are hybrids to varying degrees.
Hardy fuchsias have become more popular in the last few years as our summer drought lengthens. I have seen many new cultivars at local nurseries that have quite a variety of flower types and colors. Many of the new cultivars have flowers similar to those of the non-hardy annual fuchsias we are used to seeing in hanging baskets.
The Washington Park Arboretum’s plant collection features several cultivars of F. magellanica in the Chilean section of the Pacific Connections Garden at the south end of the park as well as several shrubs around the Graham Visitors Center.
Cultivars of Fuchsia magellanica which have received the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit:
- ‘Aurea’ – bronze and gold leaves on deep red stems, vivid magenta and purple flowers
- ‘Gracilis’ agm[7]– smaller leaves, more arching branch structure
- ‘Gracilis Aurea’ agm[8]– yellow leaves, magenta and purple flowers
- ‘Gracilis Variegata’ agm[9](syn: Fuchsia magellanica ‘Variegata’) – small, cream-edged leaves, long-narrow crimson and purple flowers
- ‘Gracilis Versicolor’ agm[10]– small, grey-green leaves variably margined with cream, pink flush when young; red and purple flowers
- ‘Molinae’ – lavender with white flowers
- ‘Riccartonii’ agm[11]– dark green leaves with a faint bronze sheen
- ‘Thompsonii’ agm[12]– compact, pink and purple flowers
Sources:
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/fuchsia-magellanica
Wikipedia
https://www.portlandnursery.com/perennials/fuchsia