A little night fire
Thursday, April 15, 2021
An interesting question came up in last Friday morning’s Fuchsia Friends Gossip Klatsch about a strange form of Fuchsia ‘Firecracker’ (also known as 'John Ridding') that seems to making the rounds here in the United States. Well, technically the get-together was at 7:00 pm BST (British Summer Time) so the meeting is probably more of a Fuchsia Friends Gossip Bierfest for most. Anyway....
My plants of this odd second fuchsia variation are still budding out so I picked up a fresh trio at the supermarket yesterday afternoon when I noticed them hiding out in the garden shop. I know, I know, it’s difficult picking up fresh fuchsias but it’s for educational purposes. So it’s OK.
As you can see, this clone is not quite as flamboyant as the original. It’s probably a partial reversion to ‘Thalia’. The cream edges and scarlet slashes are much reduced. Its salient characteristics are the lovely camouflage mottling of the leaves and a purple flushed flair to the veins and new shoots. Their undersides are also purple. The flowers remain the same. It’s not at all unattractive.
Darker and more brooding, I often keep referring to it as ‘Night Fire’ to distinguish it from the fully exuberant performance of the other ‘Firecracker’. That's not an official cultivar name, though. I just made it up for my own use.
P.S. That pink fuchsia to the side is ‘Shrimp Cocktail’.
My plants of this odd second fuchsia variation are still budding out so I picked up a fresh trio at the supermarket yesterday afternoon when I noticed them hiding out in the garden shop. I know, I know, it’s difficult picking up fresh fuchsias but it’s for educational purposes. So it’s OK.
Darker and more brooding, I often keep referring to it as ‘Night Fire’ to distinguish it from the fully exuberant performance of the other ‘Firecracker’. That's not an official cultivar name, though. I just made it up for my own use.
P.S. That pink fuchsia to the side is ‘Shrimp Cocktail’.