By Lisa Albert, guest writer

The first time I saw a hardy fuchsia in a garden, it stopped me in my tracks. How could a 4-foot tall, flower-covered, woody perennial be related to the fat-blossomed annuals that filled hanging baskets, the kind I unerringly failed to grow well? I pinched, deadheaded, watered and fertilized and yet they never looked as good as they did at the nursery. I was overjoyed to discover that its kin delivers a long season of beauty without such time-consuming care. Today, I can’t imagine a garden without hardy fuchsias’ dangling summer blossoms spilling out of beds and containers, entrancing gardeners, hummingbirds and bees.

I wasn’t the only one smitten. Ron and Debbie Monnier’s passion for fuchsias burst the boundaries of hobby-hood to become Monnier’s Country Gardens in Woodburn, Oregon. It’s well worth gas money to visit. But I warn you: few are able to stroll through their test and display gardens without succumbing to fuchsias' allure. Though the display gardens are in partial shade, the test gardens are in full sun, so you can see how these perform either way. You can find even more fuchsia choices on their website as well as planting tips to get your fuchsias off to the best possible start.

So many fuchsias…I’m going to need a bigger garden!

The lax habit of ‘Corallina’, left, make it a perfect choice for draping over my garden’s rock walls.  Its red stems are an added treat. The lush, many-petaled flowers of ‘Brookwood Belle’, above, remind me of annual fuchsia blooms.