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October 2010 Issue
Volume 10
Issue 10
Hummingbird Herald
Crescent City Fuchsia Society
Next Meeting
October 20, 2010
Winterizing and Fuchsia Fantasia Video
President‘s Message
The September meeting was great! A big thank you to Don Helsel for the very informative
program on hybridizing and giving away a slew of plants that — in his opinion — didn‘t cut the
mustard.
With the end of the growing season soon approaching, it is time to start letting your plants
go to seed so they can winter over.
With the New Year just around the corner, the Board will be planning next year‘s programs.
We would like to hear from you, our club members, what you want to learn! — do‘s and don‘ts,
pesky bugs, pesticides, fungicides, pruning, diseases, beneficial insects, soil amendment,
container growing, in-ground — whatever. With your input we can tailor programs to help you
learn how to grow beautiful fuchsias.
Mark
Look for Heirlooms – they may be in your garden!
Inside this Issue
President‘s Message
I have been asked to write an article regarding Heirloom Fuchsias in
the hope that we, as a Club, can collect as many as possible to keep the Look for Heirlooms —
―old timers‖ growing.
they may be in your
The Board suggested that 1950 be the latest date, so I have gone
garden!
through many books to accumulate facts about older varieties. Very
A Bright Spot in a Dull
interesting reading, indeed. I am trying to list ones that have been,
Year
as I can recall, among varieties that Club members have had in the
recent past.
October Checklist
One thing I want to stress after seeing the beautiful gardens on our
recent Garden Tour is the importance of labels – visible if possible – on
Heirloom Fuchsia
or near fuchsias planted in the garden. That helps you stay familiar with
your varieties and if you want to propagate them to share (good idea!),
Growing Great Fuchyou have the right name.
sias in the Ground
In one garden, I saw Torpilleur, introduced about 1903; Constance,
1935; and what I thought could be Titanic, 1946, a beautiful, fluffy, double
The Humidity Factor
red and purple. But no labels.
We had a grand informational discussion at our last general meeting
Upcoming Events
about Checkerboard, 1948. Everyone should have it!
Our raffle table can be a great source of old fuchsias: Lord Byron,
Editor Karen Fleming
1877, by Lemoine; Heron, 1891, by Lemoine; dear old Lena, bless her
707-951-0123
(continued on page 6)
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[email protected]
A BRIGHT SPOT IN A DULL YEAR
Something great happened
at fair time this year. The AFS
Board met here in Crescent
City at Gay‘s house on August
7th, and Judy Bligh, the AFS
President, brought us a special
gift. She had recently obtained
cuttings from a fuchsia called
Schiller which she
subsequently made starts of. I
now have one in my
greenhouse getting special
treatment.
distribute the starts through our
plant raffle, probably next year.
washed with white at the
base. A free growing bushy
plant with a rather drooping
habit. A very old plant the
origins of which there is some
doubt. First described by
Banks in the United Kingdom
1860.‘
George Bartlett‘s book
identifies two Schiller plants.
Ours is apparently Schiller 2,
with the following description:
‗Single, Bush, Tube and broad
spreading sepals blush white.
Corolla (petals) purplish and
Donald Helsel
What is special about it? It
is the oldest fuchsia in
California, planted in 1899 by
the 21st child of Don
Raimundo Olivas, a
prosperous cattle rancher.
Schiller has been growing and
blooming continuously to the
present day. That‘s 111 years!
Olivas Adobe, originally built in
1837, is a California registered
historical landmark in Ventura.
If all goes well I will grow
this plant up enough to take
cuttings, root those, and
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TIPS
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DON‘T use soil from your yard, or last year‘s used soil, for new plantings. Use soil mix prepared for
container growing.
DON‘T leave potted fuchsias outside below 35° without protection. Cold weather will stunt growth,
and frost will burn or kill, especially if the sun comes out suddenly.
Thank you, Faye Spidell-Roberts, for the TIPS in this Issue of our HH.
Page 2
Hummingbird Herald
OCTOBER CHECKLIST
BAIT SNAILS, NOT PETS. Wherever autumn
nights are getting cool and moist, snails and
slugs may be coming out in larger numbers. If
you would rather use bait than the stomp or pick
method, but you worry about your pets eating it,
try putting the bait in an empty 1-pint plastic
containers. Cut a small entry hole at the rim,
about 1-½ inches deep and about 2 inches
wide, put the bait inside, replace the lid and
place the container upside down in the garden.
Snails and slugs can enter but rain and pets
stay out.
STOP FEEDING SOON. Withhold nitrogen
from fuchsias in cold regions subject to frost. If
there is still a month of growing time in your
area, stimulate heavy bloom with another
application of high phosphorous fertilizer (0-1010) and then let the berries stay on the plant to
help the plant harden for winter.
DON’T NEGLECT WATERING. A little bit of
rain may not be enough for your fuchsias.
Check the soil and see how deeply the rain
penetrated. Fuchsias are shallow rooted and
may benefit from a mulch to conserve moisture
between rains as well as protect from frost
damage. Potted plants must be kept
continuously moist also.
CLEAN UP. Spent blossoms and fallen
leaves accumulate rapidly on windy autumn
days. Keeping debris picked up will improve the
appearance of your garden and deny pests a
convenient place to feed and multiply.
HARVEST SOME FUCHSIA SEEDS. This
could be a good time to pick some fuchsia
berries and look for viable seeds, especially if
you have ripe fruit on one of the species plants
like F. boliviana. Planting seeds from species
will usually result in a large number of seedlings,
The picture of the hummingbird
on page 1 of this October issue of our
Hummingbird Herald is a . . .
(answer on page 4)
Volume 10, Issue 10
which are nearly identical to the parent. (Stem
cuttings of many of the species are not always
easy to root.) Fuchsia seed will germinate as
early as ten days from the time of planting.
Keep your seed bed in a warm moist place
with subdued light. Be sure to move sprouted
seedling quickly into bright light to prevent
them from becoming leggy. Seeds may be
Stop feeding soon.
Don’t neglect watering.
Clean up.
Harvest seeds.
Protect fall cuttings.
collected, dried and stored in a sealed
container to be planted in the spring.
However, I personally enjoy planting them
almost immediately and growing the new
seedlings through the winter in a greenhouse.
PROTECT FALL CUTTINGS. Fuchsia
cuttings rooted in autumn will provide much
pleasure to winter gardeners who have a
growing area sheltered from wind and frost.
New starts should be transplanted from the
rooting medium to small pots of the 2-½ to
3-inch size. You may want to water them
thoroughly with a vitamin B1 solution to reduce
transplant shock. Don‘t fertilize them until they
become well established in the new potting
mix and show signs of new growth. Avoid
crowding the young plants and be sure to give
them plenty of fresh air.
If you want to try growing a fuchsia in the
house, you might begin with some of the new
small plants. A young plant may adjust to the
indoor environment as it grows. It will need
plenty of water, bright light and high humidity.
Mist the plant frequently and pick off any
pests. Be sure to set your fuchsia out in the
fresh air when ever possible and if weather
permits.
Page 3
HERON
Heirloom Fuchsia
Single, upright. Corolla is bluish purple,
streaked pink and veined scarlet. Rather short and
broad sepals, deep scarlet with slightly recurved tips.
Short thick tube is deep scarlet. Medium sized flower
of good substance, vivid colors, very free flowering.
Dark green foliage. Vigorous bushy plant, very sturdy,
hardy. Very similar to ―Heritage‖, ―Royal Purple‖, and
single ―Otto‖. Attributed to Lemoine raising; however,
it appears in W. Bull list of 1885 as his introduction.
British, 1885, W. Bull (Jock Penny, Volume 1)
Together
we are growing beautiful fuchsias!
Support CCFS.
Club Notes

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
Our new LIBRARIAN is now Kathleen
Esparza. Thank you, Kathleen, for
stepping up to the job!
Thank you Vicki, former Librarian,
and Scott, former Editor, and Linda
former HH mailing person, for their
volunteer efforts for CCFS this year.
The Country Store will be ―closed‖
November and December. If you
need anything, you can pick up what
you need from Mariallyce‘s house.
Except fertilizer. Our stash of 20-2020 is temporarily out-of-stock.
Club Notes (continued)
Answer

Calliope
Elections for positions on
the CCFS Board of
Directors — President,
Vice President, and
Secretary — will be held in December (Barbara is the
Treasurer). Nominations will be held in November. We
can begin to think about who might aptly and ably fill
these three positions. Voting is by secret ballot. The
new Board becomes effective January, 2011.
Growing Great Fuchsias in the Ground
A fuchsia kept in a container
until it has developed a large,
strong rootball will get off to an
excellent start when planted in
the ground.
Plant your ground-bound
fuchsia after the danger of frost
has passed in order to
encourage the root system to
develop. However, it should be
Page 4
acclimatized before it is
permanently planted. This is
accomplished by keeping your
plant outdoors for a minimum
of a week before gradually
introducing it to a sunny
location.
Plant your fuchsia in an area
with lots of light, preferably
where it will have a minimum
half-day of full sun. Be mindful
of its location because – just as
we can burn in bright sunlight
– the plant‘s leaves can also
burn. During its first spring and
summer in the ground, if its
leaves do happen to burn,
simply shade your fuchsia on a
really sunny day. When its
(continued in page 5)
Hummingbird Herald
THE HUMIDITY FACTOR by Elsie Sydnor
In all the fuchsia talks this
spring, much has been said
about pinching, shaping,
fertilizing and watering. Hand
in hand with this advice must
come some discussion of
humidity. A fuchsia can have
all the water and fertilizer it
needs and still be unhappy
because the air around the
fuchsia needs to be watered,
too!
Humidity occurs naturally
along the coast, but in many
of the microclimates where
rain is scarce during the
growing season, growers
must supply what nature does
not. First, observe the fuchsia
leaves in the cool of the
morning; notice their fullness,
their firmness, and their color.
During the heat of the day,
how can those characteristics
be kept in the leaves? Each
grower needs to access local
summer heat, shade and air
movement, and then decide
on a plan to humidify.
If fuchsias are generally
healthy during most of the
growing season, just a ―disaster
plan‖ to cover the occasional
heat wave is necessary. This
could include setting hanging
baskets on the deck or in cool
beds under shade trees, since
cool moisture settles close to
the ground surface. Additional
misting and keeping the
surrounding area damp may be
all that is needed.
Adding a water source to the
garden is beneficial as well as
beautiful.
Fountains, waterfalls, ponds,
and birdbaths all add moisture
and soothing sounds for us who
enjoy our gardens. Fuchsias
and their plant companions will
benefit, too. Such additions can
be expensive and difficult to
install, but they don‘t have to
be. A little research on the
Internet, at the library and in the
local hardware store can
disclose some simple,
inexpensive solutions. Water
(continued from page 4)
second year in the ground
comes along, it will have
become accustomed to its
location.
With respect to how it is
planted, it should be planted in
a reasonably well-drained
location, with a moat that can
subsequently be filled in with
soil as the fuchsia grows. It
doesn‘t have to be planted
extra deeply, but it will need
mulching. So if you plant it in
the ground in late summer or
Volume 10, Issue 10
early fall, make sure that the
plant is mulched. You can
mulch with bark, leaves, or
store-bought products.
Fuchsias love food and can be
fertilized with a balanced
20-20-20 or 16-16-16 product.
Our Country Store usually has
one pound packages of 20-2020 available. Water your
fuchsia in the morning to avoid
rust, with a good, thorough
watering once a week in the
summertime.
can be recycled with a fish tank
motor. Shallow birdbaths and
ponds can be washed out and
refilled with a hose. Hose-end
misters can be moved about as
the sun moves to put humidity
where it is most needed.
Watering fuchsias late in the
evening or very early in the
morning gives plants the
means to get through the heat
of the day. Avoid fertilizing
during extremely hot days, but
be sure to keep fuchsias well
fed and strong. Healthy plants
can fight adversity better than
weak plants. Take note which
fuchsias do the best in the
heat. What is helping them
―keep their cool‖? They may
give you clues of how to help
plants in other areas of the
garden.
Finally, share your successes
and questions with other
members. It is amazing how
new ideas come alive in
discussions with other fuchsia
people. If you would write to
the editor, the humidity factor
could be further explored in a
future edition.
(American Fuchsia Society Bulletin
Volume 72, No.3, May/June, 2001)
Need a Name Badge?
If you need a CCFS name
badge (or want a new one),
please add your name to the
sign-up sheet which will be on
the table inside the door by the
meeting sign-in book.
Page 5
Look for Heirlooms (continued from page 1)
heart, born 1862, 20 years before my grandmother; Marinka,
1902; Mantilla, 1948, the first registered AFS fuchsia,
number 0001. I wish we could get this one going again. It's
a natural trailer, with beautiful long, slender red flowers in
profusion. Another beautiful trailer is Red Spider, 1946.
Want bushy growth? Try Winston Churchill, 1942; Dollar
Princess, 1912, by Lemoine; RAF, 1942; Rose of Castile,
1855, by Banks – a hybridizer and collector of many different
plants in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
Want tall, vigorous growth? Try F. magellanica
Riccartoni, 1830, by Young of Scotland. This will give you a
vigorous hedge in a short time; Rufus, 1868, a great red;
Rubeo, 1947, and Santa Cruz, also 1947, both by Tiret.
Don‘t forget colored foliage. Tom West, 1853, by
Miellez. And of course there is what we know now as
Autumnale, originally called ―Meteor‖, first illustrated in
1862. American Gardeners‘ Monthly printed, ―None
surpasses ―Meteor‖ for golden and crimson hues –the more
sun the better.‖ In 1888, its name was changed to
Autumnale.
Well, this old ―antique‖ is getting a little weary now, so I‘ll
come up with more another day.
Dorothy Erickson
Upcoming Events
October 2
0
Winterizin
g
Fuchsia F
antasia
Video


Novembe
r 17
Thanksgiv
ing Dinne
r
Nominati
ons for
Presiden
t, Vice
Presiden
t, a
Secretary nd


Decembe
r 15
Christma
s Dinner
and optio
na
Exchange l Gift
 Elec
tion of Off
icers
for 2011

The [fuchsia] world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful. ee cummings, poet (1894-1962) [adapted]
Crescent City Fuchsia Society
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
P.O. Box 432
Crescent City, CA 95531
Members of the Board of Directors
Officers and Directors
 President
Mark Danner
707-487-8882
 Vice-President
Donna Aland
707-464-8217
 Secretary
Mary Anne Buckles
562-533-4810
 Treasurer
Barbara Helsel
707-465-4784
Directors
Dorothy Erickson
Andrea Dahlberg
Mariallyce Sanger
Come! Join us to learn more about growing beautiful fuchsias!
We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting of the
Crescent City Fuchsia Society.