Our President, Carol Gubler, writes -

What a winter! It is such a relief that the weather has at last become much more spring like and that the plants are at last starting to look as if they are going to catch up with where we would expect them to be at this time of the year!

I think that for most of us January was really a non-event as nothing really grew apart from the heating bills. We had over 1’ of snow which lasted for over 10 days – I appreciate that for many of you we had only a splash but in our part of the world it was quite remarkable!

Happily since then plants have moved on a pace and the hardies in the garden are just shooting in to life and the magellanicas are as ever shooting all the way up the stems – it goes to show that they are truly the most hardy of fuchsias!

Over the course of the summer the Society will be at all sorts of events and shows around the country – so if you see a stand featuring fuchsias then please come up and say “hello”. Better still why not volunteer to help at one of the National shows or go along and see what it is all about. All the activities that we do are run by volunteers – so why not give it a go – you will find it great fun. I have found out over the years that you get so much more out of being a participant rather than watching from the side lines.

Who knows what this summer will bring and by the time that you read this the weather and the season will have changed again with winter just a distant memory and instead we will be moaning that it is too hot or too dry – or ….I am certain that as ever it will be a challenging time for growing fuchsias but yet again we will all produce some wonderful fuchsias for our pots and tubs and perhaps to put in a show!

Hopefully I will be able to get to more of the BFS shows again this year and look forward to meeting some of you there!

Have a good summer!

Carol

It seems incredible that we are nearly at the end of the year – so I thought that it would be a good time to look back on the summer just gone and forward to 2010!

Fuchsias had a great summer as the weather was very much in the favour of fuchsias and so the pots, baskets and hardies have looked good well into the Autumn.  In fact as I type this (late November) there are still hardy fuchsias with flowers on in the garden.

Fuchsia shows looked good this summer and hopefully the visitors thought the same.

However there is one black cloud on the horizon Fuchsia Gall Mite. As we came into the later parts of the year there were suddenly multiple cases reported and this means that we all need to be far more vigilant than previously.  So far they have generally been in the South and close to the coast – however this might not always be the case. So please keep an eye on your plants and those of your neighbours.

Here is the latest advice from Joe Ostoja-Starzewski of the Food and Environmental Research Agency

“Fuchsia Gall mite remains a notifiable pest at the present time, should its status change, all relevant parties will be informed. – so if in doubt contact 01904 46 2213 or the local office. The inspectorate do not have the time or resources to visit every domestic outbreak site, however they still have a duty to ensure eradication on sites that are supplying Fuchsias on a commercial basis e.g. nurseries.
If the outbreak is in a private garden, we still like to monitor and confirm what is going on through the public sending in samples for confirmation. This data is important as it will ultimately help to dictate future policy with regard to this organism.

Once confirmed that it is Fuchsia Gall mite, the recommendation is to physically remove as much of the infested material as possible, which should be burnt, and to then spray what remains with an appropriate Pesticide/Acaricide. The recommended active ingredient is mentioned in the plant pest notice. http://www.fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantClinic/documents/factsheets/fuchsiaGallMite.pdf.

To look for any updates – please check on the Bulletin board regularly.

And so to 2010 - as growers of plants there is always something to look forward to and no doubt something to moan about! Let’s make 2010 the year of the Fuchsia – so please talk about our favourite plant and between us we will get fuchsias into the limelight where they belong!

Don’t forget if you have any questions on fuchsias – please ask us and we will do our best to help – we have a great team who will answer your emails.

Best Wishes and Good Growing

Carol

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