I love you Mrs. Popple
Fifty years ago
staff of Hartlepool parks dept. took a busman’s holiday to Leeds parks dept.
They were lead by their Parks Director Mr. Grubb (I kid you not). Leeds were
very proud of their new woodland garden and there in a clearing was a very fine
specimen of fuchsia - Mrs. Popple. To a young garden
apprentice it was love at first sight!
Mrs Popple is one
of the most reliable and hardiest fuchsia I know. She is not as glamorous as
some, but has a fine constitution. In
the north of England, like most hardy fuchsias, she is cut to the ground each
year by the winter cold. She always comes back to me each May.
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Next to the ivy at
Bolton Percy churchyard gate, Mrs Popple has returned every year for 35 years.
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My own favourite hardy Fuchsia is F.m.gracilis 'Tricolor'. Rosy tinted creamy variegated foliage and very slender delicate red flowers like a fountain. Hardier than it looks.
ReplyDeleteYou're right John - it's even planted on the coast because it's so hardy. I have a friend in Scarborough with a magnificent display that looks almost like a hedge!
DeleteThanks both of you,sorry I have not responded sooner (I have been offline on account of spilling coffee on my keyboard).
DeleteYes John, I think Fuchsia magellanica gracilis 'Tricolor' is a splendid and very hardy plant. Fuchsias are a really good seaside plant and withstand salty conditions. In many coastal areas the influence of the sea keeps winter temperatures higher and as Cathi mentions make a fine hedge when not cut back to the ground by winter cold. In York all of my own hardy fuchsias come from the ground each year and behave rather like herbaceous plants.
Hi Roger,
ReplyDeleteI bought several of the ones with the very large flowers this summer to fill my hanging baskets. They were beautiful all summer. I'm not sure what to do with them now though. Perhaps over winter them in pots for next year?
As folks will see from the late date of your comment, they will know there has been a technical hitch!
ReplyDeleteI can see from your own blog that you know more than you admit and I expect by now they have lost their leaves and will be fairly dry in a frost free place. They are unlikely to be as hardy as Mrs Popple. (I took quite a nice picture of her at Worsbrough last Monday still in flower!)
Keep your hens away from them!