During the last ten years the popularity of several plants has notably started a revival. These are Dahlias, chrysanthemums and gladioli.

Fuchsias, have yet to make it back into our limelight as they are still seen as part of the world of tubs and back yards rather than elegant and chic urban patios and large colourful gardens.

The fact is Fuchsias are easy to grow they flower for a long time and are very colourful. There is little more we could ask for from a plant, yet for some gardeners it would appear that they are too colourful. The shape of the flower probably doesn’t help. The most provocative of fuchsia consist of dozens of scrunched up petals completely surrounded by sepals of extremely contrasting colour.

These types of fuchsias are bred for the summer bedding market and the show bench which is where we see that big and bold is the demand.

If the Fuchsia pirouetting ballerina flower does not suit your taste then look at the triphylla hybrids. These have long, narrow tubes in shades of orange, salmon and pink, salmon, they are more compact with darker foliage growing to 20in maximum in height. The most well known of these type is called Thalia, it’s a cultivar with red / orange flowers the other type is Koralle which has paler flowers but will also grow in shade.