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.
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 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?
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.
31 Responses
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.
@AK, They make such a wide range. Multiple watering cans is the only way to go.
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.
@Bungalow Hostess, I should let the Haws have its own Instagram account!
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…”
@linda, Oh thank you! My suspicion is that I’m wired high, if you will, leading to anxiety, but also its companion, raptures. xox.
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.
@Katherine C. James, The watering can seems like something you might own, some day. And yes, replacement roses. Would that our own bodies functioned similarly.
Of course, I assumed you were talking about our mutual friend, Faux Fuchsia!
@Poppy B., Of course! She might like the pink one;).
I love fuschias. In hanging baskets!
http://www.nancysfashionstyle.com
@nancy, So classic:).
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.
@Mary anne, Excellent! I recommend you follow @fuchsiarius on Twitter. He gardens on a rooftop in NYC, and has oodles of fuchsias.
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.”
@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.
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!
@Frances/Materfamilias, When I imagine a city life, it always comes with a balcony and pots;). A big balcony, like, a deck, if at all possible. I am so happy you like my arrangement!
Of course I LOVE it. x
@Faux Fuchsia, But of COURSE!!!!
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.
@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:).
Fuchsia is beautiful!
And your Haws Copper Watering Can takes watering to the next level :-)!
Dottoressa
@dottoressa, The next level indeed. Such a small thing, such an impact.
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
@Mardel, I bet you could grow a whole passel of fuchsias! Would be so pretty.
Well, that’s very beautiful, I use an old Evian bottle – I’m doing it wrong.
@Tabitha, Ha! No such thing as doing it wrong;). Only functional vs. exquisite. And light can sparkle in an Evian bottle too.:).
In an effort to decomplicate my life, I got rid of anything that needed watering.
I see now I was wrong.
@Diane, It’s very possible. xox.
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