How do you recognise Hardy fuchsia (Fuchsia magellanica)?

Leaf

Hervé GoËau, Tele Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Hardy fuchsia

Fuchsia magellanica Lam.

Also known as: Lady's eardrops, Hummingbird fuchsia

Family: Onagraceae

1 to 2 m tall, often less in cold climates where it regrows from the base

Planted as a hedge or in borders, cool, free-draining soils

Flowering: June – October

Full sun

Part shade

Fairly hardy, to about -12°C, often regrows from the rootstock after a harsh winter

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

The hardy fuchsia has naturalised along the coasts of Brittany and Ireland to the point of forming true wild hedges — one of the few fuchsias hardy enough to survive in the open ground in an oceanic climate.

🍃 Leaves

Deciduous, ovate, toothed, bright green

🌸 Flowers

Pendent, tubular, with characteristic red sepals and purple petals in the typical form, very free-flowering; colours vary among garden forms.

🍎 Fruits

Small purple-black berry, edible

🪵 Bark

Reddish-brown, slender stems

🗺️ Distribution

Native to Chile and Argentina; widely planted in France, notably on the Atlantic coast where it sometimes forms naturalised hedges

🐝 Value for pollinators

Very long, honey-rich flowering, attractive to bees and, in its native range, pollinated by hummingbirds

✂️ Horticultural uses

Ornamental shrub with abundant, long-lasting summer flowering, one of the hardiest fuchsias that can be grown in the open ground

⚠️ Possible toxicity

No known toxicity, edible berries

🌿 Other Onagraceae to discover

Rosebay willowherb

Epilobium angustifolium

Gaura

Oenothera lindheimeri

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.