The Fuchsia 'Lady Boothby' is the climbing hardy fuchsia, a vigorous, upright variety that throws up tall stems reaching well over head height in a single season. Unlike the mounded bush fuchsias, 'Lady Boothby' wants to go up, so it can be tied in to a wall, trellis or obelisk to build a living column dripping with flower. From midsummer until the first frosts it is smothered in masses of elegant single blooms, each with a rich crimson tube and sepals framing a deep, dusky purple corolla.Rated RHS H4, this is a genuinely hardy fuchsia for British gardens. In milder areas it behaves as a woody deciduous climber, dying back in the coldest spells and shooting again from the base in spring. A dry winter mulch over the crown protects it in colder gardens, and the harder you cut it back in early spring the more vigorous and floriferous the new growth. See our hardy exotics what to expect guide for how these plants behave through the seasons.Give the young stems something to scramble up and tie them in as they extend, and 'Lady Boothby' quickly earns its place among our hardy exotics. Trained against a warm wall or up an obelisk it doubles as an informal screening plant, while its long flush of nectar-rich flowers makes it a magnet for bees and a natural fit for plants for pollinators. It is equally happy woven through an exotic border or grown as a striking specimen in a large container, so it sits comfortably among our plants for pots.Every Fuchsia 'Lady Boothby' we supply is nursery-grown and carefully selected for a healthy, well-rooted plant that establishes quickly and flowers freely in its first season.
