I'm in San Jose and I bought a fuchsia about 1 month ago at home depot. she was looking pretty shabby, but I made her feel better and now she's beautiful. Buy one, see if you can revive it a bit. Just needs some one on one loving. something they don't get a HD.

Funny, I was going to say the same as Valeriev. It is so late in the year that I would be amazed if you found any fuchsia starts. You should be able to pick up some plants at half price and make good plants out of them. Good Luck. jnette

The best nursery I've found on the Central Coast is in Santa Cruz. It's called Antonelli Bros. (http://antnelli.infopoint.com/) I've been there 2 weekends in a row and gotten a total of 15 fuchsia starts for 95 cents each! They have hundreds of varieties. Make sure to protect against gall mite with Ortho. It's worth the drive if you really want fuchsias. Plus, it's fun to watch newcomers 'oh' and 'ah' as they walk in!

Thank you everyone for the info. I caved in and bought 7 fuchsia starts online from www.fuchsia.net after looking at some Home Depot baskets that were full of whiteflies. I live in the fog belt in San Francisco and the temperature is still in the 50s at night, so Im hoping I can prolong the growing season. And they overwinter beautifully, so its really an investment :)

I must drive down to Antonelli Bros sometime soon - Ive been meaning to go for years, but never managed it

The absolute best place to learn about fuchsias and obtain many for free, is to join your local fuchsia society. I did so a year ago and have probably 30 fuchsias, most of which I brought home from a meeting. They give them away!! You will also learn how to grow them from a variety of experts. You find there is more than one way to do it. I have throughly enjoyed the meetings I've attended and the people I've met. Gardeners, especially Fuchsia growers, are great people! Here is the link for the page that tells about the local chapters. I see there is one in San Francisco. The big fuchsia convention is also occuring this summer. See the main page for details. Have fun!!
Ginny in San Jose

Here is a link that might be useful: American Fuchsia Society branches

It would be great if there was a chapter in my city, let alone my state, that I know of. But there isn't. That's why I posted the thread asking if it's too late to find fuchsias now. I do hope someone can provide a source. I am in south Tx, and I haven't found any in my city. Thanks.
Yaya

Yaya, I just bought a bunch of starter plants from www.fuschias.net, and they arrived really quick. Decent sized plants in 2.5" pots. As I mentioned in my previous post, I live in the fog belt in San Francisco, and my balcony very rarely goes above 70 F. Buying starter plants now may not be a good option for you if your weather gets too hot for the fuchsias to grow.

Thanks so much for your quick response! That is exactly what I would like to try. It's true, it is already very hot here, so that would be a great way to get started with starter pots. I'll give them a try. Thank you.
Yaya

I'm located along the SF Bay peninsula and bought all 7 of my fuchsia's from Target (Colma, San Mateo, & Redwood City). I purchased them approx. 6 weeks ago and all are still doing fine and producing continuous buds and blooms. You might want to check out Target, Lowes, Orchard Supply Hardware, and Walmart as they still had healthy looking fuchsia's approx. 2-3 weeks ago when I last visited.

Every Year I wait till the middle of the season and go to Lowe's, Home Depot; etc and buy the Fuschia's that are on Sale because they were neglected. I take them home, nurse them back to health and give them to friends. I enjoy doing this for some reason; makes you feel good when you save something that looked like it was on it's last leaf. I was just about to start looking again this year; but I have such guilt over killing my own Fuschia's. I bought Organic Fertilizers each nutrient seperately. Seems I put too much Phosporus/Potassium in them; or it could have been the Nitrogen. Anyway the next day I went out and at all the Nodes they were black and the plant was drooping. I have tried to save a few shoots and get them to root. I have the Stalks & Roots from the 3 Plants, but they are Bare as a Bone; I changed the Soil and hopefully I can get them going again. It's funny I have so much guilt about it I won't go and buy new ones yet.

I found this site which has links to some good fuchsia suppliers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fuchsias