Drawings of fuchsia blossoms tantalized Europeans well before the actual plants arrived. In 1695, Father John Plumier, a French Catholic priest, tried to send specimens of Fuchsia triphylla to Europe from the island we now call the Dominican Republic.He had made several drawings and was able to get them safely home, but all of the plants he had collected were lost when their ship sank in a storm. In spite of this inauspicious beginning, fuchsias have been collected from throughout their native range (Mexico to the southern tip of South America) and have become valued residents of our gardens.
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