Hardy Fuchsia Observations - May, 2025

**This blog is an article that I wrote for the May, 2025 edition of the Northwest Fuchsia Society quarterly publication, 'Fuchsia Flash'**

I am obsessed with and always excited about learning as much as I can about growing fuchsias in the ground as landscape plants. I’ve seen them growing in an array of varied environments. From San Francisco to the Willamette Valley, Centralia and Puget Sound, to Spokane and the Walla Walla Valley. There are distinct differences between the areas where they can be grown and differences in the varieties of those that can thrive in each location. I try to take in and learn as much as I can with every location. I see them growing and relate what I see to the season in which I observe them. I try to conceptualize what I see to the type of seasons that they have most recently come through; hot summer, wet spring, cold winter.... 

Over the past 30 years, I have taken what I’ve seen and learned to put into practice as many techniques as I can to improve growing fuchsia hardies. I like to try different things to see what might work in my environment. I play with plant size at planting, planting date, planting depth, fertilizer timing, and a big deal with the breeding program is following the genetic makeup of the plant. Sometimes a try ends up a success, sometimes not. But, successful or not, I always enjoy what I might learn through the process of trialing.  

Considering established techniques though, there are basic premises that I profess, as do others, about planting and caring for fuchsias in the ground. These give one the chance of being a successful fuchsia gardener. Essentially the basic premises to maximize a fuchsia’s success to survive when planted in the ground are to plant a fuchsia deep in well-drained soil and a well-lit area. Keep the fuchsia watered and fed through the growing season. Maintain a layer of mulch around the plant. The mulch will offer the plant a supply of organic matter, help hold back weeds and will help keep the plant hydrated through the summer.  The same mulch gathered around the crown of the fuchsia through the winter will give it a layer of insulation protection from freezing weather. 

(Sink the crown down 4"-6" deep at planting time. Not only does this help protect the plant through the winter, but it will develop into a lusher, bushier plant as it ages and fully establishes)

Even with following all the planting and care recommendations, the number of ‘hardy’ varieties that can be expected to survive a winter in a particular area will decrease as a site’s minimum low winter temperature decreases. That is to say that because its winter low temperature is higher, San Francisco has a greater number of fuchsias on their hardy list than Portland. Portland can grow more varieties than Centralia, and Centralia more than Milton-Freewater. 

Though the winter low has a great deal to bear on the survival rate of a fuchsia, I have found in my experience of growing them, there is no doubt that there are other variables at play other than winter low temperatures that will dictate whether a fuchsia planted in the ground will survive the winter or not. 

When growing in the Willamette Valley, where the winters now seem to have been balmy, it was very clear to me that a fuchsia would survive better in a relatively cold and dry winter than a relatively warmer winter that was wet. It was that premise that I understood how fuchsias would survive planted in the Spokane, WA Manito Park, where winters were typically cold, but relatively dry.  Back in the early 2000’s, Manito Park had an extensive fuchsia garden, albeit a selection of only the hardiest varieties. What I learned in Woodburn, and what I saw in Spokane, convinced me before moving to Milton-Freewater, that fuchsias could be successfully grown in the ground, here in the Walla Walla Valley where the typical winter is cold but on the dry side. 

In the ensuing 15 winters of living here, I believe that I have proven that some fuchsia varieties can and do grow in the ground here in Milton-Freewater. Some have shown the ability to survive very cold temperatures. The winter of 2023-24 saw low temperatures dip down to –10. The hardy test garden had a good survival rate, especially among plants established over 1 year. Even after the cold winter, most fuchsias had emerged by early to mid-April and were well back to growing by May and in bloom by June and July. 

This past winter was different from most I have experienced here. Starting in November we were frosting regularly with an occasional freeze down to about 25 or 26 in December. By the end of December, some plants had lost most of their leaves and were in winter slumber, but most plants had stems that were not frozen to the ground.  In fact, in early January, warm weather confused some varieties into pushing buds and signs of growth around their crowns and lower stems.  

(Confused plant showing regrowth in mid-January, Just before the big freezing event of winter 2025)

In late January we had an abrupt weather shift and a cold wave where the temps bottomed out at 3 degrees. A snowstorm deposited about 3 inches of insulating snow to protect the plants' crowns during that freeze event. 

(The DebRon's hardy test garden during a winter freeze event, protected a bit with a blanket of snow)

That late January event froze all the plants to ground level. It’s a normal thing to have plants freeze to the ground here. Plants have frozen to the ground every winter since moving here. It was unusual to have them trying to revive and grow in January though. I was sorely disappointed when the plants froze to the ground. I was kind of hoping I’d have a year where the plants would start growing from growth above ground level for a change.

The rest of the Winter continued a pattern of freezing every night with daytimes in the 30’s and 40’s. In late February and early March daytime temperatures warmed while evenings stayed cool. There was a light frost nearly every morning. However, with the daytime warming, I expected to see plants emerging in mid to late March because of the warmish daytime temperatures. 

(Late winter view of the DebRon's hardy test garden showing growth on all varieties frozen to ground level)

Emergence did finally start at the beginning of April, but emergence has been very slow across the hardy test garden. Of the plants that were growing well at the end of last year about 60% have emerged and are growing as of the first of May. Across the board, emergence is 3 weeks or more later than it has been since keeping records. I see many plants that were planted late in the season still showing life (green stems) but have not emerged.  It is interesting the number of established large hardy classified plants that have not emerged yet this year. Most notably would be ‘DebRon’s Premier Nouveau’ and ‘DebRon’s Goth’. There are a couple of control plants that have been hardy here that have not emerged yet either; Whiteknight’s Amethyst’ and ‘Whiteknight’s Pearl’. 

(Green stems showing life at and below soil level)

At this point I haven’t fully wrapped my brain around what I’m seeing. It could be that I’m seeing a response of slow emergence that’s caused by cool nights early this Spring. I haven’t had a chance to do a comparative analysis of this Spring compared to previous ones, other than what I hear from local farmers I hear expounding on how their crops aren’t performing because of the cool soil temperatures. Conversely, numerous other farmers report that their crops have never appeared so healthy. 

I’m not sure how I’d prove it, but I’m leaning towards a theory that the garden was damaged by that freeze in January. Even though it wasn’t nearly as cold as some freezing events we’ve experienced, it came at a time when growth was pushing on many of the plants. Typically, in a freezing event like this, the plants are in shutdown mode. I have a feeling the plants were not metabolically prepared for a freeze like that. 

(DebRon's Shy Pixie looking very nice and emerged well having survived the winter quite well)

It seems kind of sucky that the garden isn’t performing the way I’d like to see it perform but at the same time I am excited to gain more information about fuchsia winter survival and Spring performance. What is especially rewarding is seeing the performance of some of the new hybrids that have passed the current test that this past Winter has subjected them to. I love Spring and the opportunities for observation. I’m looking forward to planting more varieties in the ground and seeing how the garden performs through the year.