I hope someone can help me. We found these plants at a local home improvement store in Southern New Jersey (northeast coast, USA). There were no discription tags on them, no name tags, etc... the only price sticker on them said 'annual' and a UPC number :( They're the cutest things we've ever seen and would love to know how to properly care for them. We paid $10 a piece (!) just to get 2 of them, so I'd love to know if there is a way to propogate them or keep them alive throughout the year. Right now, they're happily hanging off our front porch roof and get most of the days sun. Not sure how often they should be watered, fed, etc... I hope these pictures do them justice. They look like a vine type plant, and I think if we were to coax them, they might grow up a trellis? They appear happy to droop with the weight of their 'puff's' though. Each bloom consists of an individual pink 'puff' that grows into a lantern type shape, and when they flower, these are producing dark purple/orchid color ruffly flowers. There were other plants there that flowered a lighter pink/white color. Inside each flower are 4-6 stamens (?) and they're so neat, when the flowers bloom the pink 'puff' folds back on itself like it's opening the flower to the world ;) When the bloom is done, it drops off the plant completely... which isn't totally messy because they're easy to pickup :) haha! I've tried to find pictures of chinese lantern plants & the like but haven't found anything that really resembles these. Any help or direction would be appreciated :)
These are fuchsias, often grown as hanging plants where they prefer a bit of shade. Cut off the dead blooms as they finish and the plant will reqrd you with beautiful blooms all summer. There is a variety that is hardy here, but I haven't had luck keeping these ones over winter, perhaps someone knows the trick!
Note that was fuchsia, named after Fuchs. Very common item wherever they can be grown, you will be able to get plenty of cultural information. Buying new ones every year isn't necessary if you are prepared to overwinter them yourself.
Really? awesome! i have a nice dark/damp room where we keep our bulbs... how do i overwinter these? keep them warm, and inside? it gets pretty cold here in NJ, especially when there's a foot of snow for a week!
