fuchsia 'mieke meursing'

order: myrtales
family: onagraceae
genus: fuchsia
species: ?
cultivar: 'Mieke Meursing'

First Story

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27 october 2012

blooming in late October 2012.

Mieke Meursing was cultivated in 1969 by Hopwood Hopgood in the UK. It has an upright growth habit and its flowers are single, drooping, with pink calyces and white corollas.

This is my very first fuchsia and I adore its beauty. Although, it wasn't very healthy as I first brought it home. And it didn't seem to recover much under my care either. Throughout the summer there was always some discoloration on the foliage. Now and then, flower buds would fall off before they could fully open. I suspected that the plant might not be very happy with the oversized pot I gave it, so I potted it down. After that, discoloration seemed to cease affecting new leaves. Another problem the plant had was the frequent visit of aphids. As I don't like to use any chemical, I frequently checked and removed the aphids with the help of a pincer. Eventually I was able to eradicate the problem.

Fuchsias are intolerant of drought and heat. I always have to check the soil to make sure it's consistently moist. The plant put on three flushes of bloom in the summer and once more in the autumn. Autumn bloom is more long-lasting and the flowers look a lot healthier. In fact, as I'm writing this blog entry, it is still in full bloom, despite the light frost and the snow storm that hit us this morning. I've read on overwintering fuchsias. People recommend to have the plants pruned back and the leaves removed. I'm reluctant to do so now. I rather keep it blooming in the cool stairwell for a couple more weeks. When the flowers start to wear off, I'll prepare it for dormancy.

Update

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1 april 2015

november 2014.

When I wrote a post for this, I didn't think it would take me this long to write an update. I think the main reason that has kept me from doing so is that, the plant has been constantly damaged. I usually put it on a staircase. My neighbours have accidently kicked it down the stairs twice and another time when it was gusty outdoor, another plant fell over it. So my plant hasn't had the chance to grow big. But as long as I can keep it growing (I won't even complain about its current awkward shape. All I know is that pruning won't happen in the near future), I believe the day will come when it'll be a handsome specimen.

indian azalea

order: ericales
family: ericaceae
genus: rhododendron
species: simsii
cultivar: unknown hybrid

First Story

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23 august 2012

Flowering March 2013.

This is an evergreen, frost tender azalea that can be perfectly kept indoor in a bright room in winter and moved outdoor in the summer. Huge bright crimson semi-double rosettes, 10cm across, petals with slightly undulated margins, are borne in clusters at terminals. Its foliage turns from lemon green to dark green and is somewhat downy.

I obtained this plant last year in October while it was in bloom. This I managed to keep for as long as three months. This year it bloomed earlier, in July. The flowers are bigger and brighter. If you want to enjoy its beautiful flowers longer, keep it real cool, protected from heavy rain and scotching sunlight. Slender branches tend to hang down after rain, because flowers are so huge that they retain a lot of water. Strong sunlight will make petal margins burn and flowers become unsightly.

This year I didn't keep the bloom for very long. This plant had been used in a group planting with four plants in a pot. At the time it was separated, it was completely out of shape. For now it is more important for me to improve its overall shape. I deadheaded the plant after a month of bloom so that it can spend the rest of the year on ramification. The goal is to have more flowers. Currently there are already new shoots coming out from the lower section. Rhododendron species do not usually require pruning to achieve a rounded shape.

Blooming in garden July 2012.

Watery flowers after rain.

The way it was, in a smaller pot, in 2011.

Update

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1 april 2015

out of shape albeit in bloom, november 2014.

My lovely azalea had grown so much that it was constantly blown over by wind. After it landed on my fuchsia during a storm and caused much damage to both plants, I decided it's time to repot. This time I opted a wide shallow pot. With this I think the chance for it to tip is highly unlikely. The missing branches caused the crown to appear out of shape. A couple of seasons of growth should remedy this.