Description:

A striking fuchsia variety featuring nodding flowers in shades of red and purple against the sea green foliage flushed with salmon and cream; very attractive to hummingbirds; a dense self supporting round shrub that has shown to be resistant to mites

Ornamental Features

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia features dainty nodding dark red trumpet-shaped flowers with purple overtones and white anthers along the branches from mid summer to mid fall. It has attractive coral-pink-spotted bluish-green foliage with hints of creamy white. The pointy leaves are highly ornamental and remain bluish-green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It has a low canopy. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. You may want to keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Macrostema Hardy Fuchsia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.