I love growing fuchsias, especially standards. I always like to 'show' a fuchsia if there is a class for one, or even if it's just a class for 'one pot plant'. Several years ago I grew some ‘Checkerboard’ to about 4’ high which won me several shows. The problem is getting them to the show, especially if you have a car full of veg and dahlias (and last year’s trophies) to transport also! Therefore, I made a conscious decision to grow less bulky plants and have started to do these fan trained plants in 8” pots. In fact quite a few shows around my neck of the woods specify maximum 8” pots for pot plants as they’re fed up of Hilda Knobthwaite clogging up the benches each year with her 80 year old aspidistra in a pot that’s 6 miles wide and needs a jib crane to lift it in and out of the marquee!
Anyways, I’ve mackled together a frame of pea sticks that I tie the fuchsia shoots to make a pleasing fan shape. I’ll nip out any flower buds until about 30 days or so before the show date and feed the plants well as they’re only in smallish pots and are quite hungry feeders. Hopefully, on show day they’ll be full of bloom and I’ll tease all the flowers to face forwards, pick off any dead or decaying foliage and give the pot a good wipe. The varieties I’m growing are Swingtime and Dark Eyes.
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