Fuchsia is best known for their dainty, ballerina-like flowers, but some species and varieties have another string to their bow: they produce black, red or purple edible berries.

Fuchsia magellanica is a good source of berries. Widely grown in gardens and often used in hedges in cool climates, it’s native to the southern regions of Argentina and Chile but may be commonly found as an introduced hedging plant in Ireland as well as in
cooler parts of Australia such as Tasmania.

It produces cascades of pendant flowers with red sepals (the outer petals) and a purple corolla. The flowers are appealing to small, nectar-feeding birds; in America, hummingbirds are known to pollinate fuchsia flowers.

Fuchsia magellanica has contributed to the breeding of ornamental hybrids grown as basket and garden plants, so that many hybrid fuchsias form berries. Berries are also prolific on the so-called tree fuchsia (F. arborescens), which has narrow, tubular mauve flowers followed by clusters of black berries.

Although never quite living up to its name, the tree fuchsia can reach a height of more than 1.8m. Native to Mexico and Central America, it tolerates warm conditions but is frost sensitive.

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GROWING TIPS

Fuchsias grow best in cool climates with reliable moisture and low humidity. In climates with warm to hot and humid summers, choose a cool, shaded spot in the garden or on a verandah.

Hanging baskets are a popular way to grow and display hybrid fuchsias, but the bushy F. magellanica grows well as a garden shrub in a mostly shaded garden.

Fuchsias are pruned in late winter or spring to encourage more branches and flowers. A feed of flowering fertiliser (that is, a fertiliser rich in potash) in spring encourages good flowering and lots of berries. Water plants well and keep their roots cool with a mulch of organic material such as composted bark or leaf mould.

Expect fuchsias to flower from spring to autumn, with berries forming in late summer and autumn. They can be picked at any time.

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