Summer gardens: Vibrant colour pairings and lush greenery

You can see me pictured with an interesting fuchsia growing in the garden, arborescens, originating from Central America, it is an erect, evergreen shrub or small tree with shiny dark green leaves and panicles of small purple/pink flowers, rather like lilac flowers, followed by purple spherical fruits. It is easy to train into a small, single-stemmed tree and is lovely as a conservatory specimen where it will bloom throughout the year. Mine are kept fleeced in a covered alley at the side of the house in the winter. They are best grown in moist but well-drained compost in part shade. Although Fuchsia berries are edible, most are not particularly tasty and are sparsely produced on plants. Fuchsia plants are generally grown as an ornamental and not for fruit crops within the UK.