I would think AZ is much too hot for fuchsias.

Hi

I just moved to SE AZ and I came here hoping to find someone with some advice for growing them here as well. They are my absolute favorites and I hate to think that I won't be able to have any. I do have one that I brought with me that did well in So. Cal., but it isn't doing all that well. I know that if I put up misters and kept it out of the sun I could probably have them, but I would rather find some that will do well with less water as water conservation is advised here.

Anyone have any experience growing them in hot/dry areas?

Dion :)

I am also wondering, because I was just given two beautiful hanging baskets, and I live in Utah. We're not 'quite' as hot as Arizona, but we're the second driest state in the nation, and our summer sun is intense. As this is my first try with fuchsias, I'm afraid they're not going to make it in this climate. I hope someone knows how to keep them alive in hot/dry areas.

Thanks, Shelly

OK, this is a long-shot, but just for educational and entertainment purposes:

There is at least one Fuchsia native to hot, dryish climates! Fuchsia lycoides. There is a plant masquerading under that name in the Pacific Northwest, but it is just a form of plain old F. magellanica. I don't know where to find the real thing if it can even be had in the USA (although apparently it is in cultivation in the UK). The real thing has small leaves whose petioles (leaf stems) are somewhat persistent, giving it a slightly spiney look. It drops its leaves during dry weather and is somewhat xeric. It is native to a climate more like that of southern coastal California than that of Utah or Arizona, but it's worth mentioning as an interesting anomaly for the family.

Thanks so much, atash, but as for me, I know I'm too far outside a favorable climate for fuchsias to ever purposefully buy them (though it's hard not to, because they're so gorgeous--you're able to grow SO MANY things in the Pacific Northwest that I really wish I could out here!) These baskets were given to us by our neighbors as a token of sympathy, so I'm seeing if I can give them a good shot at survival. Thanks very much for your imput, and I'll just try to keep them mostly in the shade and watch their watering.

It's funny that this post popped up for me because I was literally just reading about fuchsias yesterday..I know that this post is from forever ago, but just in case anybody currently wants some info on growing them, here's what I was able to dig up (pun intended, haha):

http://www.americanfuchsiasociety.org/fuchsiaarticles/fuchsiasinheat.html

https://dengarden.com/gardening/fuchsia-plant

http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/fuchsia-plant.html

Hope those help! :) I'd also like to try growing some here in the Phoenix metro-area, but I'm afraid that they won't survive haha. Maybe I'll try someday though! ;)

tHERE IS A COMMENT AT http://www.americanfuchsiasociety.org/articledirectory/fuchsias-in-Sacramento

for a similar area (except maybe not this year.) I remember years ago reading about people in that area growing the plants mostly in the winter, letting them go dormant, of replacing them after the summer heat.