Many years ago, during my developing love of fuchsias, I would occasionally pass by this cute little house whose front yard was covered by beautiful, tall fuchsias. I had four hanging baskets, but had never seen fuchsias planted in the ground.

One day, the gentleman who lived in the house was in his front yard and I asked him how he grew those tall plants and would it be possible for him to give me a small plant. He was very pleased that I enjoyed his plants and also was very eager to help me grow some just like he did. He said he would give me some cuttings to take home and start for myself.

Oh no – that wasn’t what I meant. I had friends who started new plants from their own stock. They had tried to give me lessons, but it was all so timeconsuming and complicated that I was never successful. I was afraid that these cuttings would share the same fate as American Fuchsia Society Bulletin January - March 2008 17 others did and die in the cup.

He produced a cutter and started cutting off whole branches from his plants. Soon he had what looked like a large bouquet of fuchsias. He handed them to me and told me to take them home, cut off a little bit and stick them in water until I was ready to plant them. How do I plant them? He said to just put them in the ground and water.“They’re just sticks,” he said, Nothing fancy, just sticks. Put them in the ground and they will grow.

I was very skeptical, but did exactly as he said. Imagine my surprise when they took root and began to grow! Soon the entire length of the front of my house was covered by the tall, lush ‘Cardinals’ and I had people stopping to admire the plants and ask how I did that. I told them – they’re just sticks, do you want some?