
Berlin On the trail of the fuchsia.

This was a quick trip, and we didn’t really get far out of Schöneberg or Berlin-Mitte, but I still did manage to find a few fuchsias lolling about. The funny thing about the florists of Berlin, I was told by a gardening friend, is that they offer two sorts of fuchsias: hängend oder stehend. “Does it go into a window box sitting on a ledge or hang over the balcony rail, or does it go into a pot standing on the floor?” It’s eminently practical, I suppose, but considerably less exciting in a city potentially full of so many planted windows and balconies, with room for so many fuchsias. Berlin bleibt Berlin, I guess. At least the city is still full of Schrebergärten colonies, sadly under increasing pressure from rapacious developers, with tons of other horticultural delights to make up for the omission. And, of course, there’s always a stroll Unter den Linden to take your mind off city streets and urban ways.