FUCHSIA – OUT-OF-FASHION?
When I discovered my favorite hanging flowers are officially “out of fashion” — meaning I can’t buy any, at least not in Uxbridge, I got depressed. I never imagined flowers could go out-of-fashion. It’s bad enough that I’m obsolete, but fuchsia? My glorious pink and purple flowers that I love … and which grow perfectly on our rather shady deck?
Isn’t it lovely?
So imagine this morning’s delight when I realized that somehow, without much thought or attention, I’d grown orchids. I’d seen the shoots, but I didn’t see any buds. Watered lightly, left them to the light and sent them my best hope for a rapid blossoming.
One of them is blooming and there are many more buds waiting. I think only one stalk will flower, but I could be wrong.
I’d like to say that while these are some of the most beautiful flowers to look at, they are amazing tricky to photograph. They are so translucent you don’t get the flower colors as much as you get the glow of the sunlight through them. And that is not a sunny window.
I will happily accept all congratulations, even though to be fair, I didn’t do anything except water them when they got really dry. Sometimes, that’s all you really need to do.
I sure hope that these don’t go out of fashion. Between my obsolete self, my crumbling home, and variously disabled body … well — out-of-fashion is possibly the kindest way to put it.
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Categories: #Flowers, #Photography, Composition, Gardens, Light and Lights
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
Your orchid blossoms are gorgeous, Marilyn. I’ve had a small potted orchid blooming on and off or three years. This time it’s got seven blossoms…and I thought it had died. Glory be! 🙂
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I never heard of flowers going out of fashion that’s ridiculous. It always annoys me when some unknown arbiters of what’s in and out dictate what we can and can’t have. Bad enough with fashion and decor but flowers! Give me a break! Your orchids are lovely though. Well done for giving them just the right amount of love.
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I did with the orchids what I was told to do when I first got a few plants: Put them in a bright window and water them when they get dry.
I have followed that same advice for more than 50 years. It works.
As for flowers going out of fashion, I guess there are floral critics like there are movie critics who deem what’s in or out. I never imagined a world where I can’t buy a fuchsia because it’s out-of-fashion.
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Congratulations to the orchid. I had many, but never managed to get them to flower again
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I really didn’t do anything. I put them in the window and watered them when they got dry. And it flowered. I know nothing about plants, but if you put them in the window and water them when they get dry, 95% of them will live and grow amazingly well, even if you never fertilize them or re-pot them or anything. Bizarre, but true.
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How did you get your orchids to flower? Mine have been barren for over a year.
Leslie
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Honestly? I water them only when they are dry and I do NOT soak them. I put them in front of a window. Then, I wait. Knowing when to water them and making sure they have enough light, but not too much probably is what matters.
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After they finished blooming last time I cut the stems off. The stems have grown back but they don’t have any knobs for flowers now. I don’t water them very much and they are in a front window.
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Be patient. And don’t over-water them. Plants hate mud.
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I tried letting them dry out. I just have to be patient.
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If you had to work at letting them dry out, you are a born-again over-waterer. I think there are 12-step programs for that.
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I’m more of a neglect type of waterer….
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This is so lovely. And I’m with you on the dismalness of ‘in’ or ‘out’ plants. Doesn’t make sense; the world is getting very very silly.
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It really doesn’t make any sense. I know that they have been hard to get, but I think they are difficult to grow. But out-of-fashion? Seriously? We’re talking about FLOWERS for heaven’s sake.
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They’re still very ‘in’ in the UK. They must sell trillions a minute here for bedding and patio pots in the summer, and in many varieties, so I don’t think they can be too hard to actually raise. We have hardy perennial shrub versions too, which are less showy. A lot of our plants for summer bedding come from Holland where they’re grown on a factory scale. Perhaps the suppliers your side of the Atlantic have decided they can grow something for which they can charge more?
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I have orchids on my windowsill too. But how can fucshias go out of fashion? Ridiculous!
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It IS ridiculous. And fuchsia is stunning if they have the right light and enough water. Maybe shady decks have gone out-of-fashion?
I was delighted by the orchids. I know nothing about how to grow them, so I did what I always do: water lightly as needed and hope for the best. It worked!
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Those orchids are pretty hardy. Alex bought me one years ago for mother’s day and it has barely stopped flowering since.
I love fuchsias… both the the tender and hardy varieties will always have a place in my garden…especially now, when half the garden gets an awful lot of shade. You can’t beat them for that.
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They really loved our deck which is sunny for a very brief period early in the morning and shady the rest of the day. I tried everywhere and no one had them. They may be difficult to grow up here, but it’s hard to believe they are genuinely out-of-fashion. That’s ridiculous.
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That’s pretty much my flowered end of the garden too… and unles ‘someone’ has been gardening behind my back ( she likes digging holes, always where I don’t want them…), there are a couple of fuchsias in there.
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They are indeed exquisite! I do love fuschia’s – can’t grow them worth beans, they always die before long. My mother could grow them so lush and incredible that they were award winners. Glox are the other flower I grew well. Not lately, but still.
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It’s all about the light. If you have the right kind of light for the flower, things grow well. I have had a lot of shade in my world and flowers that don’t require full sun have done very well for me. Fuchsia likes dappled sunlight and light shade. Full sun burns it out … AND you have to water it every day or it dies. I also did really well with ferns. But sun-loving flowers? Not so much.
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I used to have magnificent ferns, grew them from nothing and had to get rid of them because they took up half the room! I love them, they seem to love me too 🙂
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