I'd consider them of pretty much equal hardiness for this area once established. You should be aware that there is a considerable range of hardiness for a 'hardy' fuchsia. 'Lady Boothby' is not a pure magellanica - arguably the hardiest species - but a hybrid and I would not rate her hardiness equal to that of the species. I would also urge patience when considering if this plant survived the winter or not. Hardy fuchsias are notoriously late to return to life in spring and it is not at all unusual not to see any signs of survival until May....sometimes late May. They usually make up for it by blooming well into late fall, however.

Considering the mildness of our winter, I would expect yours to have survived. Even my container grown F. speciosa, a not-very-hardy hardy species, is showing early signs of life at the base.

Much the same can be said of Phygelius selections. Some are just hardier plants than others, even to the point of remaining evergreen through the winter. And taking over your garden! While I love both these plants (as do my hummingbirds), at least I know the fuchsias will behave themselves.

All of mine have lived this year even the hanging basket types in pots that were not protected in any way.

I have found the hardy fuchsias to be more reliable and permanent in my area, close to the Olympia airport, which is one of the coldest areas in lowland Western Washington. I had a "Moonraker" Phygelius do well for me a few years ago for a couple of years but it petered out. Others I have tried never seem to get well-established. Many of my fuchsias survived the winter of 2009 ( 3 consecutive days in December below 10 during a week long cold snap) with no problems at all - e.g. magellanicas such as molinae, aurea, tricolor, "David", and "Riccartonii". I think I purchased Fuchsia regia and Fuchsia hatschbachii after that winter but I suspect they will be equally hardy and are very interesting in their growth habits. They do seem to wake up later after a cold winter - May as opposed to mid to late April after a mild winter such as the one we just had. I would definitely give the Lady Boothby until late May, as Gardengal says above.

You can resolve your zone by using the zip code finder on the new USDA Hardiness Zone Map web site. Note that USDA zones are based on average lows and not lowest lows. One or a few lows in the range given for a zone does not automatically pull you down into that zone, the lows for each zone is the range of average lows. Typically each zone actually sometimes gets colder than that range. And there will be multiple winters that do not have temperatures dropping down into the range of average lows.

My Fuchsia 'Lechlade Magician' started blooming last week. It was indeed a mild winter.

Don't lose hope on the fuchsia. Here in Portland, I have had hardy fuchsias show no signs of life whatsoever until June. Just wait and see. Mine always died back to the ground each year, so I got in the habit of hard pruning them in spring. They always performed really well, even so.

As for Phygelius, I had three enormous red ones that were semi evergreen and tough as nails (can't remember which ones) and three sickly Moonraker ones that always looked like death all winter and then barely performed all summer. I think it's yet another case where the fancy new varieties are less hardy and less vigorous (like echinacea, etc). Sometimes the old standard really is better.

The phygelias are very invasive. Like mint. The roots run like you would not believe. Don't plant them in the ground, or in a pot with other plants. Stick with fuchsias.

If you want really hardy fuchsias, get cuttings from neighborhood fuchsias that survive your winters and come up earlier in spring. As said above, they're very slow to get going in spring.

It is not accurate to consider Phygelius invasive! First, the accepted definition of invasive is a non-native plant that invades and overtakes natural areas to the detriment of native species - never seen (or heard) that happening with any form of phygelius. At best, some selections can be aggressive spreaders but having grown about a dozen different varieties over the years, I have never had an issue keeping them under control when I wanted to.

And a number of the newer introductions, notably the Croftway and Candy Drops series and 'Passionate', are extremely well-behaved and compact plants, seldom exceeding more than a 24-30" spread. There is no reason to tar the entire genus with the same brush :-)

Differences in performance between red and yellow Cape fuchsias due to them being different species.

Not sure how valid that observation may be - both of the species offer both yellow as well as red/orange flowering selections. And both species are suckering subshrubs. But the vast majority of cultivars on the market currently are hybrids of the two species - Phygelius x rectus - and come in a full range of colors, from pure white to peach to cherry pink to purple. And in a variety of growth habits, from tall and rather rampant spreaders to more compact and well-mannered shrubby plants.

I would have to agree with the majority of previous posters. I find the Fuchsias to be more reliable and better behaved than the Phygelius. The best performer for me is F. David. Forms a nearly perfect 3 foot cylindrical shrub and blooms from June to November. The only Phygelius that has survived in my garden is Phygelius aequalis (I am assuming, as it is the reddish-orangey one, blooming on one side of the stem), it was here in the garden, and has managed to survive many attempts at tearing it out for over 15 years. I love the pink ones, the yellow ones, I think I may have even had a white one?, but none have survived...:>(

I've got a "David" on steroids I think! It's parked on the east side of my house and about 4 feet from the house. I think the roots stay evenly moist and cool. Last year it topped out about 7' or more and I had to stake several branches. Perhaps some judicious pruning this year...

Here is a link that might be useful: Fuchsia David