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My love of Fuchsias started when my Mother, herself a keen green fingered gardener bought me Lolita. There is a turn round Mum buying Son flowers ha, maybe to go with the Bows in my hair.

I think I bought her flowers sometimes too, now she's gone I wish I had bought her more. She was a wonderful woman.

Where were we, Fuchsias, I feel lucky to have lived near and Spoken to Harry Bullimere the world known fuchsia king often at shows. There are thousands of different Fuchsias all bred from some pretty plain small species it is fascinating.

I went on to produce Fuchsias for sale and breed new varieties, selecting the characteristics in the parents and hoping what you imagined the offspring would be, came true.

That was a long time ago when the names used to trip off my tongue. Now when I saw one I really like in France in my friends garden I could not get the name and I am still thinking.
I shall find out in time because I said to my friend 'what ever is that up in the sky' and whilst he was looking did the gardeners thing, pinched a cutting.
Mind you he saw me do it, I then pointed out that another plant near by was producing some triploid shoots. I took a cutting of that too and they went off to the sea with us along with the Tomy Ato and Sally Ardstuff the good and toxic Tomato plants.

Despite widely fluctuating conditions Customs control etc. all cuttings are doing well. The one above is the triploid. Fuchsias normally produce diploid pairs of leaves. One either side of the stem, here can be seen there are 3 leaves at 120 deg apart.

These sports make ideal subjects for growing a Standard Fuchsia.

I need to keep this one growing throughout the winter months. I have just started the training, first step, now it is a good 100mm or more tall is to take out the top with a nice sharp blade. A good clean cut without too much stalk left to die back but not too little so that the inevitable die back kills the top off.

Now the three side shoots from the top will develop and we will have a nice balanced head not a pair of horns.

The next pinch out will give 3dB gain, here I go drifting into Electronics again, 6 shoots whereas just 2 leaves would give 4 shoots. I hope to show this in flower soon, a real show specimen maybe.