What To Do With Fuchsia In September – for Even Longer Lasting Flowers and Healthy Growth
This month's guide to a stronger plant with plentiful blooms
September is make or break time for fuchsias. As the weather cools, and the threat of frost is nearing, it is crucial to know how to properly care for these charming plants and prepare them for the cold months ahead.
Loved and recognised instantly for their ornate, hanging flowers, fuchsias are one of the most versatile garden plants. Producing a dazzling array of summer blooms. From slender droplets to ornate ballerinas-like blooms, they can be found filling out garden borders, adorning hedges, trained into formal standards or found spilling from window boxes, hanging baskets and planters.
From the pale and blush tinged blooms of Fuchsia 'Annabel' through to the vivid two-toned Fuchsia 'DebRon's Black Cherry, it's well worth knowing how to care for fuchsia in the fall, so you can enjoy their fascinating blooms the following year. For your potted fuchsias, our top tip is to wrap horticultural fleece from Walmart around containers before the first frost.
Continue To Remove Spent Blooms
September can bring changeable weather conditions and, depending on your location, your fuchsia's may still be flowering profusely or halting and getting ready for dormancy.
As cut-and-come-again flowers, fuchsia's readily form new buds on the tips of their branches. Look carefully and, if present, remove spent flowers knowing that new blooms will take their place.
Deadheading fuchsias can be easily done with your fingers or using garden snips, such as these micro-tipped pair from Walmart. Just be sure to pinch off the green seed pods, located just behind the flower, as well as the fading bloom.
Ease Off Watering
Early fall is the time to ease off watering fuchsia to help prepare them for the dormant season ahead. Whether you are going to lift and store tender varieties or leave hardy fuchsia in situ, stopping regular watering now is recommended to avoid root rot.
'It isn’t necessary to water in-ground Fuchsia during the Winter months as there is generally enough moisture in the soil to provide enough hydration,' explains plant expert Katie Sunderlage. 'You should start taper the watering once temperatures begin to fall below 50F,' she continues.
Tender varieties that have been lifted and stored may need the occasional watering, but more on this below. If you need help monitoring moisture levels opt for a hydrometer such as this from Walmart.
Ready Hardy Fuchsia For Fall
Hardy fuchsia, such as Fuchsia magellanica are recognised and loved for their dainty and slender blooms that dangle from upright stems. Cold tolerant, perennial shrubs these plants can be grown in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9, losing their golden or dark green foliage in fall before reshooting the following spring.
When September arrives these nostalgic plants need little preparation for dormancy, as Katie explains. 'Hardy Fuchsia can be kept in the ground over Winter,' explains Katie. 'Stop fertilizing in September to prevent tender new growth from emerging. Once the first frost hits in Fall, the foliage will naturally die back. Once this happens, you can prune the stems back 4-6” from the soil level.'
Sharp and clean bypass secateurs, such as these from Amazon are ideal for this task. Katie also suggests to, 'keep the plant's base intact and insulate the crown with mulch or leaves.' Miracle Gro's Organic mulch from Walmart is great for tucking in between the pruned stems.
Prep And Move Half Hardy Fuchsia Indoors
One of the best plants for hanging baskets and filling garden containers, half hardy or tender fuchsias make for a spectacular summer and early fall display.
With their mostly ruffled and ballerina style blooms inviting close inspection, raising these plants off the ground displays them to best effect, but it can present problems when cold weather arrives. Knowing how to overwinter fuchsias is key to enjoying these fuchsias again next season.
'It’s best to stop feeding container grown fuchsia in September to stop new growth from emerging,' advises Katie. 'Clean the base of the plant, any debris such as leaves and spent blooms. This will help prevent fungal diseases and rotting over Winter. Prune the stems back about ½ to 2/3 and remove all flower buds and remaining foliage to help force the plant into dormancy before bringing the plant indoors.'
Katie adds, 'Store in a cool, dry, dark location but make sure it doesn’t freeze. The ideal temperatures are 40-50F. Water the soil just once a month to keep the roots moist but be sure to not saturate or soak the soil.'
It's worth knowing that three-leaved fuchsia or Fuchsia triphylla, with it's slim, elongated flowers, will need extra warmth to survive through prolonged cold weather.
Move indoors and consider covering with garden fleece, available from Walmart for extra insulation.
Operations Manager at Holland Group, managing the customer service department and purchasing. Katie has been in the green industry since 2005 in the Greater Milwaukee area, earning her degree in Horticulture in 2008. She has been able to share her love for plants working in multiple garden centers, in sales positions and most recently in an online retail platform at Holland Group.
What To Shop
While summer flowering fuchsias maybe fading there are plenty of fall flowering perennials and fall flowering bulbs that can takeover and provide color and interest for months to come.
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