Fuchsia Blue Sarah

The Fuchsia 'Blue Sarah' is a vigorous variety, with a wide and upright habit, and a unique colour. The plant produces charming, bicoloured flowers, dressed in a double frilly skirt, with shades of mauve and violet pink, and spiced with blue, topped with a white corolla. They bloom from early May, hanging among its resplendent, abundant and very healthy foliage. This fuchsia proves to be relatively hardy and easy to grow in fertile, well-drained and moist soil. It is simply magnificent in the garden, in a flowering pot or in hanging baskets.

Hybrid Fuchsias are countless, and mostly derived from Fuchsia magellanica and Fuchsia fulgens, sometimes with the contribution of Fuchsia triphylla, which brings length to the flowers, which are then characterised by thin tubes and leaves with a violet reverse. All these herbaceous woody plants, more or less hardy and sometimes upright or trailing, belong to the family of Onagraceae, and are native to South America, the West Indies and Australia.

The Fuchsia 'Blue Sarah' is an exceptional creation due to the colour of its flowers. It quickly forms a generous and upright bush, 80 to 90 cm (31.5 to 35.4 in) tall when flowering and 40 to 50 cm (15.7 to 19.7 in) wide. Its flowering period extends from May to September-October. It stands out for its flowers with ever-changing blue tones over the days. They are composed of a long tube extended by 4 long and turned up sepals, white-pink, and a crown of wider and shorter petals, very double, with a violet-blue colour tending towards violet when mature, embedded in the outer corolla. The whole forms a bouquet in shades of white, very pale pink, blue, lavender and violet. Short red stamens complete the harmony of colours. The stems, initially herbaceous, become woody as the season progresses. They bear abundant foliage composed of deciduous, opposite, whorled leaves of 3 or 5, entire, 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3.1 in) long, lanceolate. Their colour is a glossy dark green.

Usually grown as an annual, this Fuchsia is a perennial that can be grown indoors, but also in the ground where frost is not too severe. Its hardiness ranges from -5°C (23 °F) (without protection) to -10°C (14 °F) when the plant is sheltered in winter.

Discovered in Santo Domingo in the 17th century and acclimated in Europe, it was named Fuchsia (not Fuschia) in honour of a German botanist named Fuchs. Native to South America, botanical fuchsias have gradually multiplied. Today, there are said to be tens of thousands of hybrids!