Fuchsia Paula Jane

The Fuchsia 'Paula Jane' forms a small bushy and dense habit adorned with dark green leaves. It is adorned with adorable semi-double, round and chubby flowers in a delightful palette of pink to almost red tones: on each one, a tube and outer sepals ranging from white to candy pink reveal a corolla of beetroot color, turning to ruby as the flower blooms. This wonderful variety, not very hardy, is easy to grow as an annual in a semi-shaded flower bed. Grown in a large pot, it will enliven the terrace or balcony for long weeks.

Hybrid Fuchsias are countless, and most of them come from Fuchsia magellanica and Fuchsia fulgens, sometimes with contributions from Fuchsia triphylla, which adds length to the flowers: they are then characterized by thin tubes and violet-haired leaves. All these herbaceous to woody plants, more or less hardy and more or less erect or trailing, belong to the evening primrose family, and are native to South America, the Caribbean, and Australia.

The Fuchsia 'Paula Jane' is a hybrid variety obtained in the UK in 1975. It quickly forms a generous, bushy, and upright habit, 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20in) high when in flower and 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16in) wide. Its flowering period extends from May-June to September-October. Its flowers are composed of a long tube extended by 4 long and recurved sepals and a semi-double corolla of broader and shorter petals. Long pink stamens add to the charm of these pendulous flowers. The stems, initially herbaceous, become woody over the season. They bear abundant foliage composed of narrow, opposite, whorled in groups of 3 or 5, entire, 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3in) long, lanceolate leaves. Their colour is a glossy dark green.

Often grown as an annual, this Fuchsia 'Paula Jane' is a not very hardy perennial that can be grown indoors, but also in the ground as an annual plant. Its preferred climate is the one that prevails in sheltered south Atlantic coasts. Its hardiness does not exceed -4°C (24.8°F) when care is taken to protect the stump in winter. Fuchsias pair well with fern foliage, rodgersias, orange heucheras, or light green hostas. In a flower pot, they can be accompanied, for example, by mini petunias, dichondra Silver Falls, lobelias, or bacopas with very delicate flowers.

Discovered in Santo Domingo in the 17th century and acclimatized in Europe, it was named Fuchsia (and not Fuschia) in honor of a German botanist named Fuchs. Native to South America, botanical Fuchsias have gradually been multiplied. There are now believed to be tens of thousands of hybrids!