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An Enduring Love Affair With My Fuchsia, And Its Friend, A Small Haws Copper Watering Can

My fuchsia has grown and is blooming. It’s such a pleasure to watch the buds swell over days. Then one morning you wake up and they’ve opened, little triangular petals curving away from purple centers.

Fuchsia-Closeup

 

Right now the fuchsia is surrounded by primulas, violas and heuchera (burgundy leaves forever!). Also a ratty alyssum falling down the side of one pot. I’ll probably replant the supporting cast soon, I like an orange kalanchoe or two in the hot summer, against the fuchsia’s purple and, well, fuchsia.

Fuchsias-in-Pot

Fuchsias want humidity, and the San Francisco Bay Area is semi-arid. Recently I ordered a watering can. It was on my Christmas list. As it turned out, my sister gave me the small Le Creuset (thank you sister! I use it! I love it! We can haz soup!). But I couldn’t forget this, which now lives just inside the door that leads to my patio. And yes, those are my pink plaid flannel pajama bottoms you see reflected. Complementary, don’t you think?

Hawes-Small-Copper-Watering-Can

By Haws, an English company that’s been in operation since 1886. The little brass rose comes off, for those days when you want to reach under leaves. And now I water my fuchsia in a sparkle of copper light. So funny, the things we can find intoxicating.

Hawes-Small-Copper-Watering-Can-In-The-Sun-Sparkling

31 Responses

  1. I have two Haws watering cans. One is little and plastic, and the other is giant and tin. The little one lives on my kitchen window sill. The big one lives outside.

  2. We have a large British Racing green Haws metal can in our greenhouse and a smaller green plastic one on our front porch..I find both to be of exceptional quality and they are so handy.
    Your Copper Haws is very beautiful…I think I would move it around the garden and take photos of it with all your plants!!
    Happy Gardening and your fuchsia is gorgeous…as is that alyssum…not ratty at all that is just their growing habit.

  3. That’s why i love your blog, Lisa. You revel in the tiny details:

    “To see a world in a grain of sand,
    And a heaven in a wild flower,
    Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
    And eternity in an hour…”

    1. @linda, Oh thank you! My suspicion is that I’m wired high, if you will, leading to anxiety, but also its companion, raptures. xox.

  4. Your fuschia is beautiful, as is its setting. I love that Haws watering can, with its removable rose. I also love that the rose is called a rose, and that Haws lets you order separate replacement roses.

  5. I bought a fuschia today. I was going for mint, chives and lavender, but your blog post reminded me to try a fuschia as well. Here, fuschias are annuals. We shall see how this goes.

  6. I love fuchsias! I need to find a way to squeeze a few into the garden somehow. Probably pots. I was dismayed to discover than many fuchsias die back or just die over the British winter. There are hardy versions though,like this http://www.potashnursery.co.uk/acatalog/WhiteAcademy.jpg or this http://www.potashnursery.co.uk/acatalog/bashful0810.JPG. I like the ruffly ones which look like Ascot hats.

    Ooh, just learned something new… “The fruit of all species and cultivars of fuchsia are edible but the quality is variable: some are tasteless, others have an unpleasant aftertaste. The fairly large fruit of Fuchsia splendens are reputedly the most worthwhile, having a citrusy, peppery tang. They are best used for jam.”

    1. @Eleanorjane, Fuchsia jam sounds amazing. I am sure you can grow fuchsias, one of the sites I found when figuring how to care for mine was British! But I get you’d have to choose special cultivars.

  7. I love that arrangement you’ve put together in pots — I could do something like that on whatever patio/balcony I end up with, I’m thinking. Or just admire yours from a distance. And I very much admire that Haws watering can — perfection in form and function!

  8. I love fuchsias and had many on Martha’s Vineyard (very humid) but haven’t tried one here. I think I will. One of my favorite paintings that I’ve done is of one very large fuchsia, and it’s the only painting of mine that I have hanging in my home.

    Love your watering can – the copper is gorgeous and I love your PJs as well.

    1. @Kathy, I bet the painting is gorgeous. Maybe I’ve seen it? In any case, I find it hilarious and wonderful that you appreciate my PJS:).

  9. Fuchsia is beautiful!
    And your Haws Copper Watering Can takes watering to the next level :-)!
    Dottoressa

  10. Love fuchsias and had them before. I should try one here, as Summer can be humid. I also afire my Haws watering can, even if it is not copper, but I would be entranced by the play of light on copper

  11. In an effort to decomplicate my life, I got rid of anything that needed watering.

    I see now I was wrong.

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