When I was growing up my grandmother always had at least one fuschia on the front porch….the kind you get at your local garden center. It was lovely and tropical looking and a wee bit on the finicky side to take care of. When I discovered the California Fuschia I fell in love. I couldn’t believe how beautiful and lush it was with so little water or attention. And talk about a hummingbird magnet! To see a large bush of them cascading down a bank looks like it it raining fire to me.

hummingbird magnet
red trumpets
trumpet firey red
raining trumpet fire
hummingbird guards red trumpet
one hummingbird guards his prize
hungry visitors
hungry mobs
others wait their turn
others go hungry

California Fuschia
inside trumpet fire
one hummingbird guards his prize
others go hungry

@copyright Susan Taylor Brown
April 19, 2009