Fuchsia Heidi Ann

The Fuchsia Heidi Ann is a hardy variety with bicolored flowers, of a good size. Similar to the flowers of non-hardy fuchsias, they are double, with a short carmine red calyx and a corolla like a frilly skirt in mauve. This plant forms a true little bush with an upright habit, adorned with numerous pendulous bells until late in the season. An ideal fuchsia to add a touch of colour in the slightly shaded areas of the garden. In a pot, it is just as lovely, but slightly less hardy!

Hybrid fuchsias are countless, and for the most part derived from Fuchsia magellanica and Fuchsia fulgens, sometimes with the contribution of Fuchsia triphylla, which brings length to the flowers. All these herbaceous to woody plants, more or less hardy and upright yet relaxed, belong to the Onagraceae family. They are native to South America, the West Indies, and Australia.

The Fuchsia Heidi Ann was obtained by E. Smith in England in 1969. It was awarded in England the Gold Medal of the plant world, the A.G.M of the R.H.S (Royal Horticultural Society). This variety quickly forms a dense bush with upright and branching stems, reaching a height of 90 cm. In favorable climates, if its branches are not frozen by winter, it can even reach a height of 1.20 m (3 ft 11 in). The stems, initially herbaceous, become woody over the course of the season. They bear abundant foliage, of a rather dark green color, composed of leaves grouped in 3 or 5, lanceolate, rather narrow, with a central red vein. These deciduous leaves fall in autumn and reappear in spring. The flowering period extends from June to September-October, sometimes until November if the weather remains mild. Its flowers are of medium size. Each one has a calyx, a sort of tube extended by 4 sepals, surrounding a double corolla composed of numerous wide and short undulate petals. The calyx is carmine red while the corolla is mauve. Long red stamens complete the harmony of colors.

This Fuchsia Heidi Ann is a perennial shrub that can be cultivated in the ground in regions which aren't too cold. It tolerates frost down to -15°C, under good growing conditions and by protecting its stump with a thick mulch in winter. Fuchsias go well with hydrangeas and the foliage of ferns, rodgersias, orange heucheras or hostas. In a flower pot, they can be accompanied, for example, by ivy, lobelias or begonias.

Discovered in Santo Domingo in the 17th century and acclimatized in Europe, it was named Fuchsia (and not Fuschia) in honor of a German botanist named Fuchs. Botanical fuchsias from South America have gradually been multiplied. There are now said to be tens of thousands of hybrids!