Landscape View
Common Name: lady's eardrops
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Onagraceae
Zone: 9 to 11
Height: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 3.00 feet
Bloom Time: Seasonal bloomer
Bloom Description: Coral-red
Sun: Part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Suggested Use: Annual
Flower: Showy
Leaf: Colorful
Attracts: Hummingbirds
Culture
Winter hardy to USDA Zones 10-11 where they are grown in organically rich, medium moisture, moisture-retentive soils in part shade to full shade. In St. Louis, grow as annuals in containers/ baskets or by placing plants out in the ground after last frost date. Plants may be allowed to die in fall or they may be overwintered indoors. Most St. Louis homes are unable to provide the high level of humidity needed to successfully overwinter these plants as houseplants. Therefore, it may be best bring containers indoors before last frost and force the plants into dormancy by cutting them back to several inches and placing them in dark corner of a cool (40s) basement until spring. Minimal moisture should be applied in winter (just enough to keep soils from totally drying out). Another option is to bring plants indoors to a bright cool spot and reduce winter watering to a bare minimum. Bedding plants can be potted up and similarly overwintered. Stem cuttings may also be taken in late summer and potted up for overwintering. Hybrid cultivars do not come true from seed.
'Gartenmeister' is tolerant of more sun than other hybrid fuchsias and performs best in part shade. Avoid hot, afternoon sun. Hardy in Zones 9-11.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Hybrid fuchsias are frost-tender, shade-loving shrubby plants that are most commonly sold in the St. Louis area as container plants (either shrub or trained as standard) or in a hanging basket. They produces drooping, tubular flowers with prominent stamens from spring to frost. Flowering may decline and foliage may wilt in the heat of the summer. Literally thousands of hybrid cultivars are available in commerce. They come with single or double flowers and with a great variety of flower colors, mostly bicolors featuring combinations of red, violet, purple, pink and white. Oval, dentate, medium green leaves (2-5” long). Plant habit varies from that of 1-2’ tall shrub to standards to weeping types with trailing stems. Upright varieties are best for containers. Weeping types are best for hanging baskets. Hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers.
Genus name honors Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), German physician and herbalist, professor at Tubingen, who published in 1542 and 1543 a herbal with unusually beautiful woodcuts of plants.
'Gartenmeister' is a hybrid selection of fuchsia that features coral-red, tubular flowers and dark green foliage tinged with bronzy-purple hues. Mature plants will reach up to 3' tall with a similar spread. The blooms are highly attractive to hummingbirds.
Problems
Watch for aphids, spider mites and whiteflies.
Watch for aphids, scale, thrips, spider mites and whiteflies. Rust, southern blight, and verticillium wilt are potential diseases. Crown and root rots are also possible.
Uses
Beds, borders, containers or hanging baskets. Houseplant only if high humidity requirements can be met.