I've never been able to overwinter any Fuchsia regardless of what the catalogs say about hardiness. I can get Fuchsia Gartenmeister Bohnstedt to survive the summer heat but it looks pretty beaten up by fall. This year I will try them in the hoop house (temporary greenhouse) and see how big I can get them. They are the only fuchsia I grow now, they seem to be the most reliable for Raleigh. There are plenty of plants that can survive in other milder climates but not here. Its sometimes because of the way sugars are stored in the leaves during the summer heat. Things like tree ferns and fuchsias can survive winter weather such as ours in other places where the summers are never hot. Something about the summer heat causes the plants to switch into a mode of sugar storage that makes them unable to withstand freezing temps later in the year. If our summers were milder then more of these plants would make it as true perennials here. For the record - we should really call this plant Fook- see- ah and not Few-shyah. It is named after a botanist named Fuch.

Hi Anne Unfortunately fuchsias are very susceptible to whitefly and almost all growers will experience the problems that you are encountering at some time or other. One problem with using a soap based spray is that the whitefly produce a waxy protective covering and you canÂt always be sure that you have Âzapped them all, hence they start the cycle once again and it becomes a vicious circle. The way I deal with the problem is to spray twice weekly in order to break the life cycle of these pests. I must admit that I use an insecticidal spray and only after I am sure that the whitefly and any aphids are under control will I use a soft soap spray (Stergene). I have in the past used a spray made up of 1 tablespoon of ÂPotato Starch (Farina) mixed with a pint of water. This sets on the whitefly in a couple of minutes and then you simply wash the plants afterwards using clear tepid water. The drawback is that you MUST make sure that the plants are clean and that you clean the spray out immediately before the solution sets in the nozzle etc. - but it does work and it is organic. However, having said that home made recipes are not recommended  well not here in the UK anyway. Hope this helps. Tight....

Earthworks is local to me, and their rooted cuttings are a good bargain. >>Are there any other suggestions for this area? I'm partial to the bright red/purple or pinks ... upright prefered but not required. MUST be ground hardy. Good news is that all magellanica types should be root-hardy for you with a mulch. Bright red/deep purple is by far the most common coloration among wild Fuchsias and tends to dominate the hardies, although there are other possibilities. F. magellanica has a huge range, and varies slightly in hardiness. Some types, such as from subalpine scrub or at the Straits of Magellan which are its southern limit, are quite coldhardy. A typcal magellanica type will survive somewhat north of you with a mulch and people used to grow them in parts of the midwest in Victorian times. F. campos-portoi is a close cousin that looks a lot like it (finer leaves and smaller flowers than most magellanicas but really not significant); it is a little coldhardier than an average magellanica and reputedly more heat tolerant. Not as easy to root tho, which seems odd. Fuchsia regia is strangely coldhardy for a plant from a climate whose winters are about as cold as Florida's. It should do fine in Virginia. It looks like the other two but is a tall plant whose long stems reach into the trees for support. There are a lot of hybrids that are close to F. magellanica; some have white corollas instead of purple. Not a huge color range typically. F. magellanica var molinae, which some people call "magalba" (it's not really an alba), is a big hardy form from Chiloe island with small pale purple ("pink"--not really but people call them that) blossoms. It is worth mentioning, but hard to get the real thing in this country, that there is a magellanica type called "Riccartoni" which is extra-hardy. It is named for a garden or perhaps castle in Scotland, where it was noticed and named. It is distinguishable from other magellanicas by its short tube. Technically I do not have it, but I have a short-tubed magellanica seedling that showed up in my garden as a volunteer, probably having reverted from a hybrid ancestor. Most plants sold as "Riccartoni" in the USA are nothing but plain old typical versions of magellanica. Here is something I am not sure of in terms of hardiness limits, so others please chime in--some encycliandra/thymifolia types are relatively coldhardy. They have wee blossoms, one species is fragrant!!!! (probably the only Fuchsia that is), not quite typical Fuchsia shape (the petals are vestigial I think), and fine, "ferny" looking foliage. Some of them get big (wee blossoms and tiny leaves on a good-sized shrub). They are not typical Fuchsias, but come from cloudforests of southern Mexico, far north of typical Fuchsia country. Although typically pollinated by bees, the ruby-flowered types still attract hummingbirds. They also come in cerise, whites, pinks, mauves, pale purples, etc. I hate to say this but...non-variegated plants will be easier to grow. The variegation compromises hardiness, vigor, blossoming, and shade-tolerance.

Your plant looks as if it should be large and healthy enough to bloom - the only sign of buds I know of IS buds at the ends of the branches. Some additional morning sun might help to encourage it. As for the other seeds, sometimes seeds just aren't viable when you get them. With a name like 'boliviana', they may need cooler night temps in order to germinate, so give them a few more months before tossing them out. I haven't grown many fuschias from seed, but they should be similar to Hamelia, a near relative which I have germinated several times, in terms of germination.