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yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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Posted by cateyanne zone5/6 ohio (My Page) on Mon, Jul 7, 08 at 10:54
Hello everyone! I live in Northern Ohio and am in the process of establishing a new butterfly/hummingbird garden. I was looking for a bushy plant that flowers for an corner area. I came upon a "Yellow Cape Fuschia" at our local garden center and was wondering if anyone can tell me if it would work in my zone. Anything I've seen so far talks about it being a perennial, but evergreen to 20F or zone 7. What I'm wondering is if not evergreen, will it still come up again after dying back in winter? Anyone up North have experience with the cape fuschias? Or am I just trying to make something fit that normally would not? Wouldn't think our local garden center would have them otherwise, but you never know and they know nothing. I was originally looking for a bush that would provide winter interest as the opposite corner has a red twig twig dogwood.
thanks
Cathy |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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| First, Cape fuchsia is not a fuchsia at all - two entirely different plant families! Phygelius (Cape fuchsia) is very unlikely to be winter hardy for you in zone 5/6. It is native to South Africa and is considered an evergreen shrub or subshrub, although it is most often sold as a dieback perennial in climates colder than the frost-free areas it is native to. I doubt it would even be fully evergreen in zone 7 - it is only semi-evergreen here in zone 8. There are some newer hybrids on the market that could have greater hardiness. Many newer introductions have limited hardiness ratings only because no one has tested their hardiness thoroughly in wider areas. If not an expensive plant you don't mind losing, it's worth experimenting to see how well it survives your winters. And yes, the hummingbirds do love it! |
RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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Thanks gardengal, I think I'll watch to see of it goes on sale and Then try it. I'm still going to keep my eyes open for something more appropriate. I would like something that gives winter interest as well. We spend a lot of time here in winter mode!
Cathy |
RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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I had 8 small vacation cottages on Gun Lake and had planted fuchsia along the sides about 6" from the foundations. Each fall cut them to about 5-6" from the ground and mulched them with about 8" of fine wood chips. In spring after the last frost would uncover them and give them a heavy feeding with a 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer (nitrogen at 400ppm). In about 3-4 weeks they were growing to beat the band.
The cottages were heated all winter and were built on a cement slab with a 12" foundation and this kept the soil around the cottages from freezing even during the coldest winter day. By fall they were about 3' tall and about 4' wide and full of flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies.
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RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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Hi there,
The cape fuchsia is a good choice as it is a very nice plant for drier areas in the garden and flowers over a long periode. Plants are easy to overwinter as they do not need special care.
Besides the yellow from of Phygelius aequalis there are some read and salomon forms already available.
HJ |
RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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| My first year for a cape fuschia as well. I'm in Northwest Ohio, where winters can be extreme. It did extraordinarily well this summer, but I'm not sure what to do about winter. It seems rather large to bring in, but I dare not leave it so exposed. I'm also wondering the same thing about a mini-fuschia she gave me. They both are so healthy now, but winter is coming and our ground freezes pretty hard to about 5 - 10 inches. |
RE: yellow cape fuschia - good/bad choice?
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| To avoid any further confusion, cape fuchsia, Phygelius sp., is not a true fuchsia and is not even botanically related. It is a tender perennial subshrub from South Africa, generally considered hardy to 0F. Where winter temperatures don't go much below 20F, it can remain evergreen. I would be very skeptical of reports that this plant is hardy to zone 5 and would certainly recommend digging and storing indoors over winter in zones below 7. Some of the x recta hybrids (P. capensis x P. aqualis) including many of the new compact and unusual colored cutlivars are even less hardy. FWIW, phygelius/cape fuchsia should have hardiness attributes rather similar to hardy fuchsias -- OK in zones 7 and above; marginal to not hardy and in need of substantial winter protection in zones lower than 7. |
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