Hardy Fuschia

lawred2

My hardy fuschia doesn't seem to have been so hardy... It wasn't the worst winter but there's zero sign of new growth yet this year. Just brown stumps. Not a sign of a bud.

Is it still a bit early? Wouldn't have thought so.. it hasn't been that cold a start to the year. Most other things in the garden have been showing life for a while now.

macraignil

lawred2 wrote: »

My hardy fuschia doesn't seem to have been so hardy... It wasn't the worst winter but there's zero sign of new growth yet this year. Just brown stumps. Not a sign of a bud.

Is it still a bit early? Wouldn't have thought so.. it hasn't been that cold a start to the year. Most other things in the garden have been showing life for a while now.

Same with mine and the new shoots on some cuttings I had taken from it have got frost damage. I think mine is having a bit of sense and waiting for the frost to clear which may be a bit later than usual this year.

lawred2

macraignil wrote: »

Same with mine and the new shoots on some cuttings I had taken from it have got frost damage. I think mine is having a bit of sense and waiting for the frost to clear which may be a bit later than usual this year.

Ok good to know.. waiting game then

celticbhoy27

lawred2 wrote: »

My hardy fuschia doesn't seem to have been so hardy... It wasn't the worst winter but there's zero sign of new growth yet this year. Just brown stumps. Not a sign of a bud.

Is it still a bit early? Wouldn't have thought so.. it hasn't been that cold a start to the year. Most other things in the garden have been showing life for a while now.

If you scratch one of the branches with your fingernail it will give you an indicator. Just remove the top layer, if it's green underneath it's still alive. If it's brown it may we'll have had it's day

my3cents

Sorry OP but our Fushia hedge is starting to get into leaf and out white Fushia is producing flowers already.

Thats really early for us but our garden is about 2 weeks behind the rest of the area as its such a cold spot.

lawred2

my3cents wrote: »

Sorry OP but our Fushia hedge is starting to get into leaf and out white Fushia is producing flowers already.

Thats really early for us but our garden is about 2 weeks behind the rest of the area as its such a cold spot.

With O Leary in the grave then

I'll give them to start of May before extracting them...

lawred2

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

If you scratch one of the branches with your fingernail it will give you an indicator. Just remove the top layer, if it's green underneath it's still alive. If it's brown it may we'll have had it's day

tried that a few days ago - didn't get much green

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have always had this problem with fushia. Basically they all shoot from below ground each year and the existing stems just die back. I even went to a specialist nursery for varieties that would develop in to a decent shrub over time, but the same thing happened. Neighbours not too far away have hedges of fushia but my garden just refuses to accommodate them.

lawred2

Lilith Worried Strangeness wrote: »

I have always had this problem with fushia. Basically they all shoot from below ground each year and the existing stems just die back. I even went to a specialist nursery for varieties that would develop in to a decent shrub over time, but the same thing happened. Neighbours not too far away have hedges of fushia but my garden just refuses to accommodate them.

I have a couple of what look like shoots emerging at the base of each - I've been watching them to see whether they are shoots or weeds...

What do your fuschia shoots look like?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

lawred2 wrote: »

I have a couple of what look like shoots emerging at the base of each - I've been watching them to see whether they are shoots or weeds...

What do your fuschia shoots look like?

Just green shoots at the base of last years growth.

My fuchsia was really late loosing all its leaves this winter as it was really mild. I'm putting the fact that it's slow to get going this year down to that.

Danzy

The wild hedge fuchia is very resilient.

Not sure what strain it is, easy to grow from cuttings


It has survived -15 here.

lawred2

[Deleted User] wrote: »

My fuchsia was really late loosing all its leaves this winter as it was really mild. I'm putting the fact that it's slow to get going this year down to that.

Actually that's true... Mine still had leaves in December

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Even cutting of the wild fushia doesn't keep growing for me, and shoots anew every year from ground level

Danzy wrote: »

The wild hedge fuchia is very resilient.

Not sure what strain it is, easy to grow from cuttings


It has survived -15 here.

LittleWhiteDog

I have a small fushia, it looks dead right now but it was the same last year after the snow. I don't think there was much growth on it until the late summer. I wouldn't give up on it yet!

Danzy

Lilith Worried Strangeness wrote: »

Even cutting of the wild fushia doesn't keep growing for me, and shoots anew every year from ground level

I'm in Cork, well inland, not West Cork.

Maybe the temperature difference is enough.

I've just break off a branch and Jam it in a ditch, anytime of year, no preparation often in to the worst of soil. Yet to see one not grow.

lawred2

Still nowt

jaffa20

That's not a good sign. I dug up a 6 foot one and replanted during winter but i cut it down to 2 foot. It's not shooting from the base.

Tired Gardener

Sounds dead or dying to me, you should at the very least start to see the beginnings of new growth. The fact that there was little green when you scratched the bark is not a good indication.

smacl

My common or garden red fushia is just starting to go into flower and is full of the joys of spring. Tried to actually get rid of it on a couple of occasions but it keeps coming back and putting on a good display, so I've decided to let it be. I've had more ornate fuschias in the past but they've been knocked out by the frost.

lawred2

smacl wrote: »

My common or garden red fushia is just starting to go into flower and is full of the joys of spring. Tried to actually get rid of it on a couple of occasions but it keeps coming back and putting on a good display, so I've decided to let it be. I've had more ornate fuschias in the past but they've been knocked out by the frost.

Well I've made my mind up to pull them if I don't see any life in them by Monday (which should be after at least 4/5 days of a warm spell)

Danzy

Think if no sign after this week, it is the only choice.

Knine

Mine all have new leaves. Can't say the same for my Acer Tree, it seems to have suffered in the recent cold spell & all the new red shoots are dead

lawred2

Well back after the long weekend.. no change.

Ah well.. at least it'll be somewhat exciting finding their replacements.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

lawred2 wrote: »

Well back after the long weekend.. no change.

Ah well.. at least it'll be somewhat exciting finding their replacements.

The shoots on mine are only breaking ground today.

lawred2

Lilith Worried Strangeness wrote: »

The shoots on mine are only breaking ground today.

Can you take a pic? Might be that I'm missing a shoot or two..

my3cents

Lilith Worried Strangeness wrote: »

The shoots on mine are only breaking ground today.

You must have some cold winter. Ours are normally that late but as I said earlier we have them in leaf already. Cheating maybe as I guess some of the leaves are from last year.

macraignil

lawred2 wrote: »

Well I've made my mind up to pull them if I don't see any life in them by Monday (which should be after at least 4/5 days of a warm spell)

I think you must dislike the fuchsia plants you have if you are willing to kill them off this early. I would be very surprised if they were not after surviving over the winter just gone and we have had some frost only a few weeks ago which would explain them holding off a bit on producing new shoots where I live anyhow.



Just checked on the fuchsia cuttings I just took in early winter and got frost damage after I planted some a few weeks back and even some of these have recovered a bit and are starting to produce new shoots from the base again.

lawred2

macraignil wrote: »

I think you must dislike the fuchsia plants you have if you are willing to kill them off this early. I would be very surprised if they were not after surviving over the winter just gone and we have had some frost only a few weeks ago which would explain them holding off a bit on producing new shoots where I live anyhow.



Just checked on the fuchsia cuttings I just took in early winter and got frost damage after I planted some a few weeks back and even some of these have recovered a bit and are starting to produce new shoots from the base again.

The stumps are brown, dry and brittle. Even scratching the very base yields nothing. Loved last year's display from the two fuchsias. But I don't want to wait too long before calling time on them.

Everything else is well into leaf at this stage.

macraignil

lawred2 wrote: »

The stumps are brown, dry and brittle. Even scratching the very base yields nothing. Loved last year's display from the two fuchsias. But I don't want to wait too long before calling time on them.

Everything else is well into leaf at this stage.

What happened to the top growth? Why are they just stumps? The hardy fuchsia I have still have woody branches right through the winter.


The new growth on the hardy fuchsia I have and the less hardy varieties I have planted is strongest from new shoots produced from underground so I would not think the state of the top growth would be a good indicator of weather they are alive or not. The hardy fuchsia does start to regrow from the existing stems but the less hardy varieties need to produce completely new shoots each year.



How can you be under pressure in waiting "too long before calling time on them?" Are they causing damage to your garden in some way? If they are dead completely would they not just rot down over the year and provide nutrient for whatever is planted near to them. I have a number of less hardy fuchsia plants in parts of the garden that are not obvious to me now as other things are growing near where they are planted but I would be very surprised if none of the three different plants that have now survived a couple of winters were not going to show themselves at some time over the next few months. Nature is very variable and even parts of the same garden will have various micro-climates so expecting your fuchsia to sprout at exactly the same time as some one else's or even at the same time as other plant species is unrealistic in my opinion.

standardg60

You never said what variety they are op, some 'hardy' fuchsias are anything but.
Generally the larger the flower the less hardy they are, and if the soil gets particularly wet over the winter that usually does for them.
I'd gently lift one out of the ground now and check if it has any healthy root, if the soil just falls away I'd say they've had it.

macraignil

standardg60 wrote: »

You never said what variety they are op, some 'hardy' fuchsias are anything but.
Generally the larger the flower the less hardy they are, and if the soil gets particularly wet over the winter that usually does for them.
I'd gently lift one out of the ground now and check if it has any healthy root, if the soil just falls away I'd say they've had it.

I have planted about five different fuchsia varieties in my garden. The one of the five that failed to survive its first winter was the one with the smallest flowers.


I would be very reluctant to lift the fuchsia to check how it is going.

I have had the experience of disturbing a dormant plant just as they were forming delicate new shoots and killed it. The one that sticks out in my memory was a side shoot off a mahonia shrub that I got from a neighbor that had been dormant for almost a year when I decided just to confirm it was not going to sprout and when I exposed the delicate new shoots buried it again immediately, but unfortunately I had already done enough damage to finish it off.

standardg60

macraignil wrote: »

I have planted about five different fuchsia varieties in my garden. The one of the five that failed to survive its first winter was the one with the smallest flowers.


I would be very reluctant to lift the fuchsia to check how it is going.

I have had the experience of disturbing a dormant plant just as they were forming delicate new shoots and killed it. The one that sticks out in my memory was a side shoot off a mahonia shrub that I got from a neighbor that had been dormant for almost a year when I decided just to confirm it was not going to sprout and when I exposed the delicate new shoots buried it again immediately, but unfortunately I had already done enough damage to finish it off.

Unlucky personal experiences don't change rules!

macraignil

standardg60 wrote: »

You never said what variety they are op, some 'hardy' fuchsias are anything but.
Generally the larger the flower the less hardy they are, and if the soil gets particularly wet over the winter that usually does for them.
I'd gently lift one out of the ground now and check if it has any healthy root, if the soil just falls away I'd say they've had it.

standardg60 wrote: »

Unlucky personal experiences don't change rules!

I have noticed you make some good points on some other gardening topics including some questions that I posted myself. I don't believe this is an example of that.

I do not believe there are any rules in biology that say that all small flowered fuchsias are hardy and all large flowered fuchsias are not hardy. There may be a tendency for the more robust types to put less effort into their flowers but as I experienced with my one plant dying, small flowers do not automatically make for a hardier plant. Please provide some reference to support your contention that you are quoting some sort of rules that apply to all varieties of fuchsia as I simply don't believe such rules exist. I agree there may be a general tendency but to try to say these are rules that apply without exceptions is bizarre in my opinion.

looksee

I had a fuchsia that became a dead twig every winter, and every spring I would decide it was dead, but due to inertia do nothing about it. Then, way later than I would have thought possible, it would speedily send up a few new branches and produce a nice head of flowers...only to do the same again the following season.