Hardy fuchsia

'Riccartonii' makes a very impressive flowering shrub with a prolific show of small flowers with a dark purple 'skirt' beneath the crimson 'wings' on its mass of twiggy growth. It is a very good choice for those who don't like the showier, blowsier fuchsias with more flamboyant shapes and colours. It can be grown to the back of a large border, or be used as an informal summer hedge or divide, doing best in the West Country and Ireland where it thrives on the high rainfall and high humidity. Though it is fully hardy, the top growth may well get killed off by sharp spring frosts, but new growth quickly shoots up from the base. To keep the shrub to a moderate size, prune it back each spring. It has been given the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the Royal Horticultural Society.