Hi, all. I'm a new member of the group, signing-up mostly to ask a single question of knowledgeable fuchsia fans.
When I moved into my own home in the Santa Cruz mountains of California, my dad gave me a cutting of his "Swingtime" fuchsia he'd had in San Jose for decades. The cutting turned out to love the climate and did exceptionally well, even in full sun. I loved the plant because it had a plethora of huge red and white blossoms. I became a fuchsia fan myself, and raised and propagated a good number of them while living there.
Now I live in southern California, which, aside from the coastal communities, is not the best place to grow fuchsias. Nonetheless, I manage to keep a number of them going in my few shady areas, and with the current summer not as hot as last year's, they are doing quite well.
I've tried a couple of times to get a Swingtime going in my garden, but none that I've purchased (mail order) as legit Swingtimes are anything like the one I grew from my dad's cutting. Their blossoms are only a fraction the size; otherwise anatomically identical, but quite puny by comparison. I'm beginning to wonder if he was mistaken about the ID of one he gave me.
I wonder if someone might comment on this and perhaps offer an explanation of the disparity in blossom size. If there's a Swingtime-like plant that has enormous blossoms, I'd like to find a name and a source. Many thanks!
