Hardy fuchsia
Fuchsia magellanica · Onagraceae
Slender, arching stems hung all summer with small, dangling flowers of crimson and violet, like earrings.
- Size
- 4 ft tall, 4 ft wide
- Zones
- 6 to 9
- Light
- Part sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late June to mid October
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around hardy fuchsia
The planner designed this bed around hardy fuchsia when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why hardy fuchsia stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Hardy fuchsia × 1, red
- 2 Green-and-gold × 8, yellow
- 3 Bloody cranesbill × 6, pink
- 4 Purple milkweed × 5, purple
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Palm sedge × 3, green leaves
- 7 Spring snowflake × 5, white
- 8 Hyacinth 'Delft Blue' × 7, blue
Why this plant
- The only red.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So do Gray's sedge and palm sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 4 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Gray's sedge (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 17 weeks. From late June to mid October.
- Closes the season. For its last six weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 42 to 58, left to right. Cool colours (pink, purple and blue) with red and yellow as the warm notes, and green and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where hardy fuchsia goes in a border
At 4 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
In mild, damp climates it makes a flowering hedge; elsewhere it dies to the ground and regrows like a perennial. Hummingbirds love it. Plant it deep and mulch the crown.
- Hummingbirds
- Months of flower in part shade
- Coastal and mild gardens
What to plant with hardy fuchsia
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its fine ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- Japanese forest grass: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Japanese anemone: in flower together for eight weeks, from mid August; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about hardy fuchsia
Does hardy fuchsia need sun or shade?
Hardy fuchsia grows in part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does hardy fuchsia grow in?
USDA zones 6 to 9. It is hardy to zone 6, which means it survives winter nights down to about 0 °F (−18 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does hardy fuchsia flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to mid October. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 6 | Late June to mid October |
|---|---|
| Zone 7 | Late June to mid October |
| Zone 8 | Late June to mid October |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to mid October |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should hardy fuchsia be planted?
3 ft (90 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 4 ft (120 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 4 ft (120 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many hardy fuchsia plants do I need?
At 3 ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 1 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 4 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is hardy fuchsia poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like hardy fuchsia?
Hardy fuchsia comes from South America: Peru, Chile, Argentina, south to Tierra del Fuego. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- White meadowsweet: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers late June to late August, white, not red.
- Bee balm 'Jacob Cline': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 12 in narrower, flowers late June to mid August.
- Garden phlox 'Jeana': the same job in a bed; 12 in narrower, flowers mid July to mid September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Do deer eat hardy fuchsia?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after hardy fuchsia?
Hardy fuchsia is over by mid October. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Bodnant viburnum 'Dawn': from early November to late December, 10 ft tall.
- Common witch hazel: from mid October to late November, 15 ft tall.
What does hardy fuchsia look like in winter?
Hardy fuchsia drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Long-flowering plants: 12 weeks or more
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 4 ft (120 cm) tall, 4 ft (120 cm) wide
- Plant
- 3 ft (90 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late June to mid October; hanging bells; red, purple
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; dark green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 6 to 9
- Light
- Part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Onagraceae
- Comes from
- South America: Peru, Chile, Argentina, south to Tierra del Fuego
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.