|Clustering floral display of Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’|
Sometimes in life beauty comes from above. It rains down on you like snow. So delicate yet so powerful; so beautiful, it causes you to stand still and bask in its spectacle. Such is the case of Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’. It’s a semi-evergreen, erect shrub that produces graceful clusters of slender trumpet-like flowers that open and flare their downward tips in opulent color. It looks like the type of plant Bacchus would have had present at one of his rituals of ecstasy and madness. Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’ comes to us from the high altitude cloud forests of Bolivia, Peru, and Argentina. When blooming is in full swing, something about the multiple bunches of buds and bloom displayed is somewhat reminiscent of the visually delicious clustering of lusciously promising grapes.
|Fuchsia boliviana foliage + flower + form|
Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’ can grow to be 12 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide. Slightly arching branches outfit themselves in plushly textured deep green leaves and throughout the year produce dangling clusters of two-tone narrow white trumpet-like buds that open to reveal engaging, tropically pinkish red flowers. When flowers finish their display, they leave behind edible, subtly flavored, capsule-like black fruits. Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’ looks amazing grown among other structured plants, where it can subtly weave its branches here and there, later producing clustering ornaments of color in surprising places throughout its supporting plant.
Fuchsia boliviana ‘Alba’ likes part sun to shady situations, fertile, well-draining soil, and regular water. It doesn’t like extreme temperatures and needs protection from frost. It’s hardy down to around 30 degrees fahrenheit/-1 degrees celsius. It makes a tropically elegant feature plant in a garden or container where in bloom its tropical tassels of color create an alluring air. For a sophisticated display of tropical temptation try using branches with blooms as cut flowers in supportive vessels indoors or out.
