Peter Dowdall: We associate fuchsia with Cork and Kerry, but its origins lie thousands of miles away
Fuchsia's origins lie mainly in Central and South America. File picture
There are few sights more beautiful at this time of year than the hedgerows alive right now with hardy fuchsias, their hanging blooms dangling like jewelled earrings on a sea of green. I’ve just driven the byways of West Cork where the ditches on either side were thick with arching branches studded with these hanging crimson and purple flowers, thousands upon thousands of them, busy with bees.
It’s a sight so common here that we almost take it for granted, and it’s a phenomenon that never fails to surprise visitors who expect fuchsias to be pampered garden plants The plants, now synonymous with West Cork and Kerry and regarded as quintessentially Irish, are not native, of course; their origins lie thousands of miles away, mainly in Central and South America.Â
