Since I first saw the scarlet fairy bells of Fuchsia magellanica years ago in its native Patagonia I have loved this modest beauty. When years later I met its albino version I loved it even more, and have planted it wherever I have a spot in the garden that needs a quick and charming lightweight. Then I came across ‘Hawkshead’, a lovely purer white version. I have a tall plant of ‘Alba’at the far end of this little garden, doing its best to block the steps up to what I think of as the quarterdeck. I regularly have to cut off some of its spreading branches; it rapidly adds more on top. It’s certainly taller than me now, an airy tower of tiny dangling bells on the blush side of white.
The contrast with the pure white of ‘Hawkshead’ is telling. I don’t plant many duplicates; I’m too keen on trying new things, but there is the pleasure of subtle variety here.
In the last few days, down by the Solent, I’ve seen more samphire than plants with RHS approval, but I always associate seaside summer with the combination of hydrangeas, usually in a washy pink, with the scarlet shock of montbretia. They are far from being AGM plants, but in bright light and salty air they make a strong holiday statement. Fuchsias love it here too. The other day in a garden by the Solent I saw a hedge fully seven feet high of the original red-flowered variety, the red not strident but just lending it a glow. It’s a splendidly biddable plant: cut it tight or let it gesticulate, a midsummer joy that keeps going well into autumn.
