Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah'
Hardy fuchsia
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Supplied as an established plant in a 3 litre pot
Aspect
Full sun to partial shade
Hardiness
Borderline hardy;
Flowers
Summer to autumn
Soil
Loam, sand, clay
About this plant
Rose and lavender flowers, all summer through
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Description
Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah' is a compact, bushy hardy fuchsia producing a generous and continuous succession of single flowers with rose-pink sepals and soft lavender-lilac petals throughout summer and well into autumn. The mid-green foliage is neat and attractive, and the naturally upright, well-branched habit requires little staking or training. It is one of the more reliable hardy fuchsias for sheltered borders and patio containers, flowering with great freedom over a very long season and returning dependably year after year from the base in a mild, sheltered garden.
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Why we like it
Specs & details
The particulars
- Botanical name
- Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah'
- Common name
- Hardy fuchsia
- Supplied as
- 3 litre pot
- Flower colour
- Pink
- Eventual height
- 45–60 cm
- Eventual spread
- 45–60 cm
- Flowering period
- Summer to autumn
- Habit
- Compact upright bushy shrub
- Life cycle
- Deciduous shrub
- Hardiness
- Borderline hardy;
- Aspect
- Full sun to partial shade
- Soil type
- Loam, sand, clay
- Moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Position
- Front of border, patio container, low informal hedge
- Plant spacing
- 4–5 plants per m²; or allow 45–60 cm between plants
- Growing skill
- Easy to grow
Plant calendar
When to plant, when it performs
Planting & care
Help it thrive
Planting guide
Choose a sheltered position in full sun or partial shade with reasonably fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil. Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah' will not perform well in waterlogged conditions, particularly over winter, so on heavy clay soils incorporate grit and compost to improve drainage before planting. Plant out only after the last frost, setting the crown slightly deeper than it was in the pot, around 5 cm below soil level, to protect the crown buds should the upper stems suffer frost damage. Space plants around 50 cm apart. In containers, use a good loam-based or peat-free multipurpose compost with added grit for drainage and ensure the pot has unobstructed drainage holes. Mulch generously around newly planted specimens before the first autumn frosts.
Care tips
Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah' is straightforward to maintain through the growing season. Deadhead regularly to keep the display tidy and encourage further flushes of flower, though the plant is naturally prolific and will continue blooming reliably with or without deadheading. Pinch out the growing tips once or twice in early summer to encourage a bushier habit and more flowering stems if required. Feed container plants with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser every two weeks from midsummer to sustain flowering; border plants need only a spring application of balanced fertiliser. Do not cut back in autumn; leave the woody stems intact as frost protection for the crown, and delay all pruning until spring when new growth confirms which stems have survived.
Winter care
Fuchsia 'Delta's Sarah' is a hardy fuchsia cultivar and will overwinter successfully in the ground in a sheltered position in most parts of the UK, particularly in milder counties. In autumn, leave the woody stems intact rather than cutting back; they provide frost protection to the crown below. Apply a generous dry mulch of bark, straw, or bracken over the base of the plant before the first hard frosts arrive. In spring, once new growth is visible low on the stems or at the crown, cut back to just above the lowest healthy shoots. In colder or more exposed gardens, taking semi-ripe cuttings in late summer and overwintering them under glass is a sensible precaution against losses in a severe winter. Move container plants into a frost-free greenhouse or cool conservatory before the first frosts.