On 27/12/06 18:48, in article , "Bob
Hobden" wrote:


"Sacha" wrote after...
"Bob Hobden" wrote:

I see T & M are offering for sale "the worlds first climbing fuchsia"
which
is also extra hardy.
Anyone tried it or even seen it? We need something (unusual) like that to
climb a fence.



Is it F. Lady Boothby? If so, Ray had it 20 years ago and saw it
climbing
up a tree in Tresco! The old gardener there gave him a piece but he's
since
lost it. Hardy Exotics have it at £9.50. Ray says the 'trumpet' is such a
dark blue that it's almost black.
http://stgilesnursery.co.uk/Climbimg...G_FUCHSIA.html
has them at 0.95 per plug.
One site claims it goes to 4m (perhaps that's on Tresco) and another
claims
2m.
There's another climbing one something like F. regia but I think it is
tender.


Yes it is F. Lady Boothby...5 plants for £9.99 or 15 plants for £14.99 and
the trumpet is very dark if the pictures are to be believed.
So does Ray think it's a "goodun" then?

He says "not overwhelmed" but the colour is quite interesting. It's a medium
sized flower, long like the old-fashioned Fuchsias. The sepals are scarlet
and the centre almost black. I asked about the climbing properties and he
says his got up to about 8' in the greenhouse here but the one he saw in
Tresco was about 20 to 30' up a tree and must have been donkey's years old.
It's not a natural climber, in that it doesn't self support and has to be
tied in. He thinks it's almost hardy here so T&M's claim that it's hardy
might not apply to all parts of UK! That said, I've ordered some from St
Giles because I'm interested to see what it does!

BTW they also have a trailing Bizzy Lizzy called "Spellbound" in their
catalogue.

We don't have that one but we have a couple of others that S&G do and which
we get as plugs - don't know the names offhand I'm afraid.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/