| Hawkshead looks an aweful lot like Fuchsia magellanica var molinae, which I suspect is its primary ancestor. It's one of the hardiest types of Fuchsias, and does not normally freeze back here in Western Washington. Most hybrids with a lot of magellanica "blood" are quite hardy, some more than others. (Some plants in the trade with "fancy names" are pure F. magellanica despite the names) F. magellanica itself varies quite a bit, because it is native all the way from the northern end of the Mediterranian belt in Chile (subtropical climate) to the Straits of Magellen, from sea level to fairly high in the mountains. A word of warning: although the real thing does exist in a few people's collections, the plant called 'Riccartoni' in nurseries here is not the real thing, which I have seen in Ireland. Riccartoni is a F. magellanica with notably short tubes; it also happens to be extra-hardy and does not normally freeze back, hence it is used for hedging along the west coast of Great Britain. The one growing here under that name has longer tubes, is just plain old F. magellanica, and prone to freezing back in hard winters. I have a fairly hardy short-tubed plant in my garden, the result of a self-sown seed. Its parent was probably an old British hybrid with Riccartoni in its background, that reverted. The tiny-flowered and tiny-leaved hybrids based on the Encycliandra types (several related species from the cloud forests of Mexico--and one of them is fragrant!) also tend to be quite hardy. By the way, Aftermidnight, although some Fuchsias were bred to be relatively coldhardy, a lot that weren't just turned out to be that way. There are a lot of old cultivars (dating back as long ago as the mid-19th century) that are quite hardy, many of them large-blossomed. I've seen a few hardies with enormous blossoms. Typically you will not find them in nurseries, but they are passalong plants through Fuchsia societies. You can sometimes find them at specialty nurseries specifically for Fuchsias, tho these are getting rare. Have fun. |
