I can't answer but I'm interested too. I tried several varieties of fuschia and a few survives the summer (to my surprise) but never overwintered. In England and Wales they are everywhere and just gorgeous and all kinds of varieties so I am very jealous, but it appears that they don't like the cold or the heat and we just aren't temperate enough. That said, magellanica is supposed to be the best for around here and a variety called 'angel earings' was making the rounds a few years ago and supposedly could handle our climate, but (maybe it was not such a success?) I haven't seen it the last 2 years. Personally I would give it a pile of leaves once it goes dormant for extra protection and remove them come spring. I faithfully misted mine on hot days to get them through the heat and several made it despite being small. It was the winter that finished them off. -Ais.

I've never been able to overwinter any Fuchsia regardless of what the catalogs say about hardiness. I can get Fuchsia Gartenmeister Bohnstedt to survive the summer heat but it looks pretty beaten up by fall. This year I will try them in the hoop house (temporary greenhouse) and see how big I can get them. They are the only fuchsia I grow now, they seem to be the most reliable for Raleigh.

There are plenty of plants that can survive in other milder climates but not here. Its sometimes because of the way sugars are stored in the leaves during the summer heat. Things like tree ferns and fuchsias can survive winter weather such as ours in other places where the summers are never hot. Something about the summer heat causes the plants to switch into a mode of sugar storage that makes them unable to withstand freezing temps later in the year. If our summers were milder then more of these plants would make it as true perennials here.

For the record - we should really call this plant Fook- see- ah and not Few-shyah. It is named after a botanist named Fuch.

i noticed a hardy fuchsia at tony's (in the newer garden, as you enter the driveway, to your left) on my last visit, but didn't see it for sale. i hope someone can identify a source at the fall sale. i mean Plant Delights.

Gartenmeister Bohnstedt wintered over for me in the ground this past year. It's at the base of a large pine where the soil drains well. I had another fuchsia that came from Camellia Forest, a magellanica cultivar I think. It lasted several years but declined steadily over that time, until this summer it didn't grow back. On the other hand, I had two Proven Winners fuchsia from Kroger last summer that wintered over in pots outside and bloomed all summer until the deer ate them. If I can resurrect them I may try planting them in the ground next spring. I don't remember if they were the Angels' Earrings or not. Have to go check the tags.

I am going to give Fuchsia Magellanica a try. I don't know why I purchased one, but we will see how it does. It did not look the best when it arrived yesterday. But this morning it looked ok. I am also going to push it and put it in full sun as I don't really have any part sun areas. If it does not survive I will try it next year in a pot.