Blue fuchsias have a kind of mythical air about them – they’re always much sought after and the colours are so very special. Each bloom opens a vivid azure blue, and fades to a soft lilac, meaning you’ve often got two colours on one plant at the same time.
For many years, the choice of blue fuchsias was limited to ‘Delta’s Sarah’, the popular hardy variety. However, newer breeding and selection has given us compact patio varieties such as ‘Prince George’, and new tumbling ‘Mr Blue Sky’.
Fuchsia ‘Mr Blue Sky’ has been selected for it’s trailing stems, bejewelled with baby blue, fabulously fancy flowers. Plant it into a hanging basket, window box, flower pouch or anywhere it can trail.
Easy to grow
I challenge any of you to not be able to grow a fuchsia. It really is quite simple. They just calmly ‘do their thing’, whether in sun or shade, and they have no qualms about the English weather. Where possible, avoid a super sunny position where they’ll dry out too often, but apart from that, they’re quite unfussy.
Fuchsia ‘Mr Blue Sky’ would look great planted on its own, but also as part of a mixture of other basket plants. The clear blue flowers mean it would work with pastel tones as well as richer, in your face, summer colours.
Planting tips
For very best results grow in a hanging basket so that you can appreciate the flowers and the trailing habit of this variety.
When choosing a hanging basket, make sure you select one with a diameter of at least 14 inches, this will mean the capacity of the basket is much larger than most, and it will retain moisture much easier, meaning less watering. I would plant up to seven or more plants into a basket of that size.
It’s also a good idea to use the best quality compost that you can afford too. Buying low grade composts could mean that your plants don’t perform as well as you’d hoped.
I also recommend planting into a basket with side holes so that you can plant into the sides, this means you can get a head-start on the trailing effect, rather than having to wait for the plants to tumble over the rim.
Keep feeding them regularly with a high potash plant food, like Flower Power, as this can dramatically increase flowering. Finally, as the flowers fade and die, you’ll notice some red berries appear. While these are edible and tasty, they’ll stop your plant flowering, so nip them out before they form.
Find out more >
