Fuchsia x hybrida Chilli Red

The Fuchsia 'Chilli Red' is a variety whose numerous sharp floral buds resemble chillies. They open into pendulous tubular flowers without corolla with spreading bright red sepals between June and October. The flowers stand out beautifully against the medium green foliage on this slightly hardy small compact, bushy, and erect bush. Fast-growing, it is suitable for both pot cultivation and small garden borders in partial shade.

Hybrid Fuchsias are countless, mostly derived from Fuchsia magellanica and Fuchsia fulgens, sometimes with the contribution of Fuchsia triphylla, which adds length to the flowers, characterized by thin tubes and leaves with a purplish underside. All these herbaceous to woody plants, more or less hardy, and more or less erect or trailing, belong to the evening primrose family and originate from South America, the Caribbean, and Australia.

The Fuchsia 'Chilli Red' quickly forms a generous, spreading bush, 50 cm tall when in bloom and at least as wide. Its flowering period extends from June to October. Its flowers consist of a tube extended by 4 long and open bright red sepals, with long red stamens. The stems, initially herbaceous, become woody as the season progresses. They bear abundant foliage composed of deciduous, opposite, whorled by 3 or 5, entire, lanceolate leaves, 5 to 8 cm long. They are of a fairly dark green hue.

Usually grown as an annual, this Fuchsia is a perennial that can be grown indoors, in a large pot that will be brought indoors during winter to protect it from frost. Fuchsias pair well with fern foliage, rodgersias, or hostas. In a flowering pot, they can be accompanied, for example, by ivy, lobelias, or delicate-flowered bacopas, or dichondra Silver Falls, whose grey foliage provides a beautiful backdrop for the bright red flowers of 'Chilli Red'.

Discovered in Santo Domingo in the 17th century and acclimatized in Europe, it was named Fuchsia (not Fuschia) in honour of a German botanist named Fuchs. Originating from South America, botanical Fuchsias have gradually been multiplied. There are now believed to be around ten thousand hybrids!