Fuchsia Dark Eyes

Fuchsia 'Dark Eyes' is a particularly elegant trailing variety. From late spring until the end of summer, it is adorned with voluptuous bicoloured flowers, featuring a red tube and sepals that crown a double and frilly corolla of deep blue-violet. This impressive variety is perfect for hanging baskets. It is easy to grow in partial shade, in fertile, moist and light soil.

There are thousands of hybrid fuchsias. For the most part, they are derived from Fuchsia magellanica and F. fulgens, with occasional contributions from F. triphylla, which adds length to the flowers, characterised by thin tubes and violet-hued undersides of the leaves. All these herbaceous to woody plants, varying in hardiness and growth habit, belong to the Onagraceae family.

Fuchsia 'Dark Eyes' quickly forms a generous, spreading and trailing bush, 40 to 50cm (16 to 20in) tall when in flower, with a similar width. Its flowering period extends from June to September-October. It stands out with its magnificent double flowers, whose weight gracefully bends the stems, transforming the plant into a flowering cascade. They consist of a tube extended by 4 long, upturned, bright red sepals, and a crown of wider and shorter double petals in a blue-purple-violet shade, embedded in the outer corolla of sepals. Short red stamens complete the colour harmony. The stems are initially herbaceous, becoming somewhat woody as the season progresses. They bear an abundance of foliage composed of slender deciduous leaves. They are opposite, whorled in groups of 3 or 5, with entire, dentate margins, measuring 5 to 8cm (2 to 3in) in length. The lanceolate leaves are a glossy dark green. Its hardiness does not exceed -5°C (23°F) in open ground.

Usually grown as an annual, this fuchsia is a perennial that can be grown in a large pot that can be brought indoors for the winter to protect it from frost. It can also be grown in open ground for one season, or even longer in mild climates. Fuchsias go well with the foliage of ferns, rodgersias, orange-coloured heucheras, or light green hostas. In a flower pot, they can be planted with ivy, Dichondra 'Silver Falls', lobelias, or bacopas with very delicate flowers. Large double-flowered varieties will be enhanced by upright varieties such as F. 'Price Noir' or F. 'Winston Churchill'.

Discovered in Santo Domingo in the 17th century and acclimatised 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. There are now believed to be tens of thousands of hybrids!

They are supplied as green plants measuring 4 to 8cm (2 to 3in) in cases of 5 small plugs with a diameter of 2.8cm (1in) and a height of 4cm (2in). Our plants are at least eight weeks old and strong enough to be planted in open ground.