Dollar Princess looking sickly
Hello, it’s my first time here - so please accept my apologies if I’ve posted in the wrong place or if a similar thread already exists.
I have a dollar princess fuchsia; it’s about 3 years old and quite woody at the base. It lived in a pot on a south-facing front door step for all that time until we moved home this summer. It’s always been outside, even over the winter. So in autumn, I planted it in our west-facing border and now it’s looking pretty sickly. Grey-green, not bright green, leaves which are a bit crispy and dropping... not sure if the photo helps... Is this a sign of frost damage as I fear, or is it just a case of the leaves dying off and my lovely plant becoming dormant? I don’t recall seeing this colour of leaf last winter, hence my concern as the frosts here have already been harder than on the west-London doorstep!
Should I lift it and keep it frost-free, just mulch it and hope, is it sadly too late and therefore destined for the compost bin...?
Thanks in anticipation.
Lisa
Last edited: 18 November 2017 17:42:56
Posts
I wouldn’t usually lift a Dollar Princess, but in your case I would.
its planted much too close to the fence, or shed whatever that is, I would be inclined then, to put it in a pot for winter in a sheltered spot or cold green house. In the Spring, cut it right down and when it’s shoots out again you can plant it in a more suitable place where it will get more water.
Check there are no vine weevil around the roots.
It is supposed to be hardy providing you don't have severe frosts, so I would mulch it and hope, or if you want to, lift it.and bring it indoors. Expect some leaf drop, but don't worry, they can be cut back in the spring and will make new growth. Keep it somewhere cool and don't try to feed it till then. Just keep it ticking over, water just enough to stop it drying out.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/242943/Fuchsia-Dollar-Prinzessin-(d)/Details
Thanks both, really helpful!
I think I will be best off lifting it so that I can plant it in a better spot in the spring. We have a cold greenhouse where it would be protected over winter. So I will get out there tomorrow to do it. Hopefully I have caught it in time.
Many thanks for your help ?
Lisa
I think that’s the best thing Lisa, then plant it at least three feet from the fence. She doesn’t grow to very big height so she would benefit from being nearer to the front of your border.
If you need care info for next Spring , just come back to us. ???
Thanks very much, Lyn! ?
Hopefully I’ll be able to report back next year with a beautiful plant full of flowers all summer!
Upscaling from a small urban garden to a larger rural one with different soil, aspect, etc is taking a bit more adjustment than anticipated - for me, as well as the plants! Things have been plonked in in haste as we’ve cleared weeds and in hindsight not necessarily in the best spot. So I‘m glad the Forum is here to help us get back on track!
Thanks again ?
The rural garden is definitely quite different fron the urban one. You will get to know what grows and what doesn’t and live within those means,
I try anything, if its no good, not hardy etc, out it comes and I find the things that will grow.
Because of the size of my garden, and my age, I’m trying to get it all over to perennials, with just a few annuals to fill in spaces.
Every year I say I’m going to cut down on the seed growing , do I ? Not.?
I’m all for the perennials too, Lyn!
We grow tomatoes each year and that is a commitment unto itself given that we both work long hours. I don’t plan on having many annuals in our garden - just a few container pots - at least until I can get the weeds under control with some ground cover perennials.
That said, the conservatory is already full of hardy annuals I just couldn’t resist growing from seed now that we have the space ?
Why do we do it?
I've now aquired three glass greenhouses, two conservatory’s. Five plastic covered greenhouses and a few of those shelf units. In the Spring the whole lot are full of seedlings and cuttings, cutting back, I doubt it, ???. Once you’ve been bitten by the bug, you can’t stop.
Absolutely! There’s little better than growing something from seed, nurturing it through winter, training it in spring, and seeing it in all its glory in summer ? (Sadly I’m doing far too well cultivating weeds this year, but I’m already excited about next year’s projects.)