May 3, 2011

My Favorite Hanging Basket - Fuchsia

Every year I look forward to buying a fuchsia in a hanging basket, and every year I manage to kill it.  Well not really kill it, but it certainly never looks the same as the day I brought it home.


I just love their delicate little blooms of fuchsia and purple.  But how do I keep it blooming like that?  Glad you asked!  I just found out from the garden center the correct way to deadhead these beauties in an effort to keep it blooming all summer.

Instead of just taking the bloom off the end of the flower stem, you must take it all the way back to the woody stem.  I had always just taken it off at the end!  Incorrect deadheading won't get the results you want, which is reblooming!

The other thing you need to know about Fuchsias is that they need A LOT of water when they are blooming!  So I set out to devise a system to help me with that.  Find yourself a small water bottle with the lid.  Find your drill and drill several small holes into the cap.


I used a small block of wood under the cap so I could drill right into it as a backing.

Now cut a hole into the bottom of the bottle to relieve the pressure in the bottle so the water can flow out those small holes.



Now bury the cap end into your hanging plant and fill it with water.  When the soil is dry, the water will release into the soil.  This really helps absent-minded gardeners with providing enough water! {ahem} When the bottle is empty, simply use your sprinkling can to refill the bottle through the opening in the top.  You can use this system with any hanging plant or patio pots.  With taller plants, it is easy to camouflage the bottle, and no one will even know it is there!

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