Fuchsia Breeding

For breeding new Fuchsia cultivars a variety of male and female crossing parents can be used.

Existing and commercially available cultivars are often used as crossing partners.

Examples are many, and include well-known cultivars such as 'Checkerboard', 'Göttingen' and 'WALZ Harp'.

Another important category comprises the Fuchsia species.

By using species material, new traits can be introduced that are not already present in existing cultivars.

Examples are the long tube of Fuchsia inflata, which can be transferred to the progeny as is clearly shown by cultivars such as 'Treslong' and 'Dutch Kingsize', and the purple colour of 'Daryn John Woods', which has been inherited from F. juntasensis. 

In the early times of fuchsia hybridisation, F. magellanica and its progeny was widely used by many hybridists.

Therefore, many existing cultivars contain at least some magellanica-blood.

Not the least important category of crossing partners includes the genetic material that most fuchsia breeders have collected and preserved over the years in their own, never introduced Fuchsia seedlings.

In the FUCHSIA BREEDING sub-pages examples will be given of Fuchsia species and preserved seedlings which have given shape to the 'De Cooker' Fuchsia introductions.