Overwintering Fuchsias Part 1:

When the obsession with fuchsias started, was I enticed by the sturdy stems of the commonal garden, hardy, red and purple, no fuss, no frills varieties? Of course not. Nope I like the frilly, multi-coloured pathetic ones, or non-hardy as they like to be known. With winter approaching that first year came the realisation at the amount of time invested into raising my initial brood of two inch plants into sizeable established ones. I didn’t fancy the idea of losing them all over the winter and going back to square one so I set about coming up with a plan to get them through the colder months.

Ideally, one would tuck their fuchsias into the greenhouse where they would happily avoid the frosts. A common theme on this blog will no doubt be the lack of a greenhouse, but god I’d love one. My granddad had two the greedy bugger. Not requiring light during the dormant months, you can store them inside a garage. Yes we have a garage, and no there is absolutely no way my fuchsias were kicking the car out.

So I give you the igloo. No its not pretty but it works and luckily as we don’t spend much time outside from November onwards this little monstrosity is allowed to sit in the corner and quietly go about its work. Constructed entirely from bubble wrap and fleece it prevents the soil in the pots freezing and killing off the roots. Having cut the stems back and removed all leaves and green material I place the pots on a layer of bubble wrap placed directly on the patio; this prevents cold seeping up from the ground. Then depending on how much time I have on my hands and how long I want to spend out in the cold/wet I wrap bubble wrap individually round each pot. Fleece is spread over the whole lot and then covered by a final layer of bubble wrap. Now admittedly I do live quite far south in the UK and my garden is particularly sheltered, but the first year I employed the igloo I didn’t lose a single fuchsia, not one. I did however lose one of four kept in situ in a large pot and which is just shrouded in fleece. 

So im calling my homespun solution a success. I didn’t enjoy hopping about in the dark securing edges with bricks but I think its worth it. This year, I will admit the igloo looking pretty tatty but Its been so mild an igloo has actually been unnecessary. My routine of regularly tucking in the edges has gone a bit by the by hence the disheveled state, but theres life in them stems yet so its all good. God knows what the neighbours think I'm up to.