We had many more frosts this year than in recent times and they battered many of the plants in my garden. In fact, they killed several of them. I have a collection of plants I keep in pots so they are easier to protect than those in the ground and I move these pots under the shelter of our pergola during cold weather. Yes, they still experience the low temperatures but are protected from frosts.
One plant that didn’t worry me is Fuchsia magellanica, often called the hardy fuchsia. It’s a perennial and I have it in the ground as a sprawling shrub under one of our windows. Whenever it grows too high, a quick haircut keeps it under control and stimulates new growth.
This year, regular frosts turned my shrub into a collection of bare sticks that hardly enhanced the garden bed. It looks sad but I knew it was merely resting through the cold days and nights.
Once the weather warmed and the deciduous trees in my garden started to show their new leaves, I pruned the fuchsia by half and gave it a thorough watering. Now it looks like this.
I’ll trim it lightly this month and give it a drink of diluted liquid potash fertiliser. That should keep it happy throughout the warmer months. It’s really a fuss-free plant that rewards me with hundreds of small flowers and never gives up!