Question: We live in California and wanted to know if Fuchsias can be trained and grown on a trellis? Ellen, Walnut Creek, California
Answer: Ellen, are you making full use of those adaptable shrubs that can be used as pot plants, garden bushes, espaliers and often as groundcovers? Among them are Ribes viburnifolium, Correa speciosa (C. pulchella) and some of the fuchsias.
Read our article on Fuchsia Plant Care
An unusual way of using those species fuchsias with long narrow flowers coming from tall branches is to train them to a trellis on the north side of the house. Boliviana is a good fuchsia to use in this way. Its foliage is nice the year round, its long stems reach to the second story and there is bloom for much of the year. I know one five-year-old specimen, trained to three main stems, that graces almost the entire side of a small white cottage. It is especially lovely at Christmas and has never been affected by cold.
Camellias Light Acid Fertilizer Application
Give the camellias a light application of acid fertilizer this month, scratching up the surface as little as possible, then follow with a thorough watering. Take cuttings of pelargoniums and carnations. The pelargonium slips should be left in a sunny place to callous before planting but cover the leafy tops so that they do not become dry and crisp:
Gentians – Extending Blooms
See that the gentians do not lack for water this month – watering prolongs bloom. Do not limit yourself to the familiar Gentiana acaulis with dark blue trumpets but next year grow also G.a. gigantea. It has still larger blooms. Gentiana sino-ornata, a stoloniferous plant with long stems and bright blue funnels, is one of the best and G. maeauleyi, a hybrid between G. sino-ornata and G. farreri, is a lovely one with large turquoise blue flowers.
