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Almost fuss-free fuchsias can take an Oregon winter 

To my eye, hardy fuchsias are the costume jewelry of the garden -- glitzy, gem-toned wonders that take a lickin' and keep on tickin'.

They sparkle all summer if you just remember to water and fertilize.

What's not to love about fuchsias? True, some varieties don't live as long as we'd like. But hold on -- there's a big distinction between "hardy" fuchsias and the dainty hanging basket annual flowers that die at first frost.

The biggest difference isn't the flower, the leaf or the beauty the plant imbues in shade or sun. It's just that hardy fuchsias survive our winters outside, and the annuals won't. So if you're tired of buying fuchsias every year, worrying about when to bring the plant in, how to cut it back and how to revive it next year, buy a hardy fuchsia and forgo the rest. Plant it, forget it and watch it flower year after year.

Monnier's Country Garden in Woodburn grows and sells hundreds of hardy fuchsias. Owner Ron Monnier can't really pinpoint his fascination with the fuchsia.

"We've got some 900 different varieties, and it's a challenge to find ones that will grow in the ground and come back next year," he says.
My great big sprawling red-and-violet hardy fuchsia is a magellanica (say ma-gell-lawn-ee-ka) variety, which Monnier calls "Grandma's Fuchsia" because so many old-timers grew it.

Monnier classifies this kind of fuchsia as the kind "you can't kill with a stick." And I will testify to that under oath, if called upon to do so.
The most popular is "Aunt Priscilla," a large, 2-inch-wide fluffy double flower even more grand than the "Swing Time" fuchsia so many people love. Apparently we don't have to sacrifice the need for big blowzy flowers just to get a fuchsia that will survive the winter.

When you plant a hardy fuchsia, forget everything the experts told you about planting. Normally, gardeners take special care to settle the plant in the ground at the same level it came in the pot, without covering the crown. Not so here. Monnier tells people to plant them deep, like tomatoes.

For a gallon-size fuchsia, he'll tell you to sink almost half of the stem into the planting hole, so a full 6 inches of the plant will be covered. This in itself helps make your fuchsia winter-hardy.

Monnier adds fertilizer twice a year, in late February or early March and then again in June. He swears by a mix called Perfection (10-8-8) from Woodburn Fertilizer (503-981-3521). I add that only because I know gardeners always want the dirt on fertilizer.

How do you know if your fuchsia is winter-hardy? Unfortunately, you can't tell by looking. For this information, you'll have to read the tag, ask the nursery or hope the dreaded east wind doesn't suddenly turn in your direction. Once you've got a hardy one under your belt, all it takes is a big blanket of mulch (mounding of 4 inches of garden mulch over the plant every winter) to keep your plants warm outside.

While other gardeners are trying to baby the annual varieties over the winter inside their garage or basement, and watering the semidormant sticks protruding from the baskets with great hopes for the summer, your hardy fuchsia will be snug as a bug under its mulch rug.

This week's to-do list

• Snap off seed heads forming where lily flowers drop off.
• It's time to give camellias even more water if you want flowers next year. Right now the shrub is making flower buds that will bloom next spring.
• Prevent earworms from eating your corn before you do. Put a drop of mineral oil on the silk at the top, or use a regular old clothespin to secure the husk at the top.