Plant Finder

Moana Nursery High Desert Plant Finder & Guide

Description:

A compact, self supporting bush variety featuring dainty, royal purple nodding flowers with bright scarlet sepals, contrasting the attractive sea-green foliage; a colorful display that continues all summer long; very attractive to hummingbirds

Ornamental Features

Army Nurse Fuchsia features dainty nodding deep purple trumpet-shaped flowers with scarlet overtones and white anthers along the branches from late spring to mid fall. Its pointy leaves remain bluish-green in color with distinctive red veins throughout the year. The dark red stems can be quite attractive.

Landscape Attributes

Army Nurse Fuchsia is a dense multi-stemmed annual with a more or less rounded form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Army Nurse Fuchsia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Army Nurse Fuchsia will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. Although it's not a true annual, this plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in a location that gets morning sunlight but is shaded from the hot afternoon sun, although it will also grow in partial shade. Keep it away from hot, dry locations that receive direct afternoon sun or which get reflected sunlight, such as against the south side of a white wall. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.

Army Nurse Fuchsia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It can be used either as 'filler' or as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, depending on the height and form of the other plants used in the container planting. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.