No flowers on fushias

[Jimmy]

I have a number of hardy fushia bushs.
Every spring I cut them hard back.
By summer they are huge and bushy again.
Usually covered in flowers.
This year they are just as bushy but there are very few flowers.
The wife is missing the abundance of little dancing ballerinas.
Any idea were they have gone?
Jimmy

[ameno]

Perhaps the dry weather we had over the summer was to blame?

I do the same as you each year: cut back to ground level, then they flower on the new growth. Mine have been in full bloom since early July, and will be until around Christmas, I expect (it's right by the house, so it takes a harder frost to finish it off).

[burnie]

I hacked mine back trying to finish it off if I'm honest, but thankfully it's a lot tougher than I though and is covered in flowers, no idea what type it is I inherited it when we bought the house.

[ameno]

I hacked mine back trying to finish it off if I'm honest, but thankfully it's a lot tougher than I though and is covered in flowers, no idea what type it is I inherited it when we bought the house.

I tried to finish one off once. Took 4 years to finally get rid of it.

I dug it out to replace it with a gooseberry bush, or so I thought, but it grew back the next year (presumably from a buried section of root). Because it was sandwiched between a gooseberry and a rose, I couldn't really get in there to dig it out properly, so I kept just slicing it off a few inches below ground level each winter. It grew back two more times before it finally gave up.

The hardy ones are actually very tough. Frost might kill the top growth, but the roots come back time and again. The one I have in my front garden (which is the one I talked about in my other post above) is very old. I don't know exactly how old, but it looks very old now and it looked just as old when I moved into the house, 17 years ago. I suspect it's probably around 40, or more. The previous owner was an old man who had lived in the house a long time.

[Jungle Jane]

My dahlias have less flowers this year,a lot of leaves like normal,I wonder if the ants & aphids wore them out they were covered,I did remove a lot by hand but there were so many reproducing. There are some flowers though

[mothhawk]

My hardy fuchsia is covered in flowers too and it is neither fed nor watered, and it is up against a wall where it gets very little direct sun. i usually cut it right down but last year I left it, and it has grown to about 8ft tall this year.

[Nicos]

Are those the fuscia I saw in the hedgerows in Ireland? Ever so pretty.

[Jay22]

Caught the pigeons eating the flowers on ours so now it’s just a green shrub!!

[mothhawk]

Are those the fuscia I saw in the hedgerows in Ireland? Ever so pretty.

Probably - fucshia magellanica. It grows as hedges in Devon/Cornwall too. Not much good for keeping stock in though!

[ESBkevin]

I tried to finish one off once. Took 4 years to finally get rid of it.

I dug it out to replace it with a gooseberry bush, or so I thought, but it grew back the next year (presumably from a buried section of root). Because it was sandwiched between a gooseberry and a rose, I couldn't really get in there to dig it out properly, so I kept just slicing it off a few inches below ground level each winter. It grew back two more times before it finally gave up.

The hardy ones are actually very tough. Frost might kill the top growth, but the roots come back time and again. The one I have in my front garden (which is the one I talked about in my other post above) is very old. I don't know exactly how old, but it looks very old now and it looked just as old when I moved into the house, 17 years ago. I suspect it's probably around 40, or more. The previous owner was an old man who had lived in the house a long time.

This is our experience really. About every 3 or 4 years we do the annual top clip, but then I use a spade and compleetly lift the root balls (only a few inches) to prevent them getting too big for it's boots. It's maintains a nice compact shrub and doesn't seem to hurt them any. this year a couple have struggled to develop much growth and few flowers while others have done reasonably well. They have not been lifted for at least two years so thats not the answer, it's probablt weather related.

[annie8]

I have had this problem with some of my cosmos. Grown really well but no flowers. Strange. Was thinking I would give them a feed at the weekend.