HARDINESS ZONE:6-9 GROW: After planting seeds, you have to moisten the newly planted seeds. To speed up germination, cover the pots with wet paper or a plastic dome. This helps keep the seeds moist before they germinate. When you see the first signs of green, you have to remove the cover. WHEN TO PLANT:Late summer. EXTERIOR:Fuchsias are much-loved for their hanging, bell-shaped, bi-coloured flowers that look like colourful, dancing skirts. The flowers last all summer long. NOTE:Fuchsia susceptible to root rot, fuchsia requires a fast-draining potting soil and very good drainage, so make sure that With their long flowering season and vibrant blossoms, Fuchsia are outstanding deciduous or evergreen shrubs. Blooming freely all summer and throughout early fall, they produce a profusion of pendent, single to double flowers, with elegantly flared or recurved sepals. Ranging in habit from upright to arching or trailing, there is a Fushia for most garden situations. Some are hardy and can be grown outdoors in the mixed border, others make wonderful container specimens or inject charm and color to hanging baskets or window boxes. Wild fuchsias, native to Central and South America, grow profusely in the Andes where temperatures are cool, and the air is moist. They don’t require constant maintenance, but do plan on paying attention to them. If you live in zones 6 or 7 and are growing fuchsia in your garden, you’ve probably chosen a ‘hardy’variety. Good fuchsia plant care entails planting them in soil with a pH level of 6 to 7. However, they’re fairly adaptable in many kinds of soil, so long as it drains well and quickly. Fuchsias love lots of filtered light but are particularly intolerant of heat. Making sure your fuchsia baskets or planters have plenty of dappled shade and daytime temperatures well below 80 degrees F. (27 C.) will encourage a healthy bloom. If you’re growing fuchsias indoors, a window with bright, indirect sunlight works best. However, they do like humidity and will languish if the air is too dry, whether indoors or out. Fuchsia blossoms are a wonderful treat for pollinators, so expect plenty of bees and hummers if you’re growing them outside.