All that Glitters is not Gold

                                           "All that glitters is not gold"    is an English expression that says not all that looks precious or true.

Maintaining and improving a fuchsia cultivar database and associated website such as FuchsiaFinder.com ensures a lot of international contacts. Recently a photo was sent to me by an American fuchsia collector.

The cultivar in the photo was purchased with the "Glitters" label. The flower in the photo deviated from the photos that were shown on the FuchsiaFinder website. As a result, the collector in question was unsure of the correct identity of his plant.

The original AFS description for "Glitters" (Erickson, 1963, USA, AFS 579) is very short. AFS describes "Glitters" as a single ascending cultivar with a white tube and an orange-red corolla. The new photo ticked all the boxes, but that also applies to many other cultivars.

Case closed? Nope. When I searched for 'Fuchsia Glitters' on the worldwide web, a photo caught my attention.

The flower in the photo at https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/186931/ was exactly the same as that of the American fuchsia collector. The photo in question has been added by user "Pedricks Corner" to the davesgarden website.

I remembered that Pedricks Corner was a small-scale American Fuchsia nursery.


It was time to use the FuchsiaFinder Cultivar search function (https://fuchsiafinder.com/find-your-favourite-fuchsia-cultivar/) to see which other nurseries have "Glitters" in the range. It became clear that "Glitters" is currently still being sold at a few Dutch and Belgian nurseries. The Australian nursery Fuchsia Fantasy also sells "Glitters". When checking the different nursery websites, it turned out that all farms sell the same salmon-orange single cultivar with the name "Glitters". So European and Australian nurseries sell a salmon orange "Glitters" and an American nursery sells a red-white single "Glitters". It is impossible for both cutlivars to sell the "Glitters" introduced by Erickson in 1963 at the time. Which "Glitters" is the right one?


Dr. Spack, the American collector who sent me the photo, had already helped me when I researched the cultivars introduced by breeder Pike. I knew he had a copy of Salli Dahl's books about American fuchsia cultivars. So I asked him if "Glitters" happened to be mentioned in one of Salli Dahl's books. Indeed, Dr. Spack sent me a scan showing the white-red cultivar with outstanding corolla and raised sepals.

different sets of descriptions can be distinguished. The earliest publications (Boullemier, Clapham, Bartlett and Stanley Wilson) seem to describe the white-red ascending cultivar with fully erect sepals and outstanding corolla. More recent publications clearly describe the salmon-orange cultivar.



Conclusion: Based on the above findings, I think labels are lost or changed at some point. This probably happened during the 1970s or early 1980s in the United Kingdom. At that time, the original Erickson cultivar was probably not widely distributed. Later, the false cultivar may have spread further to the rest of Europe, Australia and New Zealand. This assumption explains why the original white-red cultivar is still being sold in the US. The "Glitters" sold in Europe and Australia is not, in my opinion, the original cultivar that Erickson introduced in 1963. Which then is the correct name of this cultivar could not be traced to date.

Descriptions from various sources for "Glitters":

SET 1: describes a single white-red cultivar

AFS original description (1963 USA)

Glitters, 579, Erickson 1963, sgl, up,  corolla orange red,  sepals white

Boullemier checklist (United Kingdom, 1985-1991)

Glitters. Single. Waxy-white tube, sepals waxy-white, inside lovely salmon colour; corolla glowing orange-red. Medium sized flowers, produced in profusion with spreading corolla. (One of the parents of Celia Smedley from which it obtains its very vigorous growth (Note : this information about the parentage of Celia Smedley is wrong)). Growth upright and vigorous, heat resistant. Erickson - American - 1963 - AFS 579

Stanley J.Wilson : Fuchsias - A complete Guide to their propagation and cultivation for house and garden (United Kingdom 1974) (no picture)

Glitters (Erickson 1963). Single. Waxy-white tube and sepals, but the underside of the sepals is a lovely salmon. The spreading single corolla is a glowing orange-red. Medium-sized flowers are produced in profusion on a tall, vigorous, upright grower. An attractive easy plant to grow.

George Bartlett : Fuchsias – A colour guide (United Kingdom 1976) (no picture)

Glitters (Erickson, USA, 1963) Single H2 Bush. Tube waxy white. Sepals have similar colouring  but are a lovely salmon colour on the inside; green tips. Corolla a glowing orange-red. Foliage medium green. The flowers are very freely produced on strong upright growth

Clapham Sidney : Fuchsias for House and Garden (United Kingdom 1982 (no picture)

Glitters An easy single variety of attractive colouring. The tube and sepals are waxy white except for the salmon underside of the latter and the wide-spread corolla is a vivid orange-red. Makes a strong tall plant with a profuse display of medium sized flowers.

NZ Fuchsia registry

Glitters (Erickson 1963 USA) Upright Bush - T. WAXY WHITE. S. WHITE OUTER. INSIDE SALMON. C. GLOWING ORANGE RED

SET 2: describes a single salmon orange / red cultivar

A Second Colour Guide To Fuchsias (G. and A. Walker, United Kingdom) (picture similar to those on FF)

Glitters : Single.Sepals salmon-pink with green tips. Corolla bright orange-salmon. Flowers small and free, vigorous upright bush.

Eileen Saunders : Wagtails book of fuchsias Volume 1 and 2 (drawing similar to the pictures on FF)

Glitters ( Erickson 1963 USA) Tube : salmon pink - Sepals : salmon pink, paling towards green tips - Corolla : salmon orange, single - Filaments pink - style pink - Foliage medium green - Growth upright. Almost too vigorous a grower for greenhouse cultivation. best to grow this one as a summer bedding-out plant in a dry-ish, sunny position. Here it will make a tall upstanding bushy plant & bloom freely throughout the summer

500 Fuchsia's te Kijk (MiepNijhuis, 1995, The Netherlands) (picture similar to those on FF)

Glitters : E; T diep zalmkleurig met oranje vleug; S diep zalmrose met oranjekleurige vleug, overgaand naar crème, eindigend in groene punt, aan de binnenkant licht zalmrose; C dieporanje,aan de basis lichter, donkerder streepjes, middelgrote bloem, bloeit mild; vertkt spontaan; opgaande bossige groeier; geschikt voor volle zon.

Fuchsia Lexicon (Ron Ewart, UK, 1983) (no picture)

Glitters, Erickson 1963, AFS 579. Single. Tube salmon pink, long and of medium thickness. Sepals salmon pink with green tips, short and held over the corolla. Corolla orange salmon, very bright, small and compact blooms. Foliage medium green, small to medium-sized, serrated leaves. Growth very vigorous, upright , bushy and free-flowering. Bush or summer bedder.

Fuchsia's hebben en houden (NKvF, The Netherlands, 1985) (no picture)

Glitters (Erickson 1963, USA)E. T&S : zalmrose, lichter wordend naar e (groene) toppen). C.: zalmkleurig oranje. Helmdraden en stijl : roze. Middelgroen blad. middelgrote bloem. Milde bloei. groei : rechtop. Krachtige groeier.

Lijst van in Nederland aanwezige species en cultivars van de FUCHSIA (van der Zee-Kruseman & van der Haven, The Netherlands, 1984) (no picture)

Glitters (Erickson 1963, USA, AFS 579) E. T & S: zalmrose, lichter wordend naar de (groene) toppen (SII) (wasachtig wit, van binnen zalmkleurig CL)C: zalmkleurig oranje. Helmdraden en stijl: rose. Middelgroen blad. Middelgrote bloem. Milde bloei. Groei : rechtop. Krachtige groeier. (CL en SII)  (waarbij CL verwijst naar Boullemiers Checklist en SII naar Eileen Saunders boek 2)

Fuchsia's van stek tot stam (Nijhuis Miep, The Netherlands, 1986) (no picture)

Glitters (Erickson 1963 USA)- enkel. Bloembuis zalmroze, lang. Kelkbladen : zalmroze met groene punten, kort. Kroonbladen : zalmoranje. Blad : middelgroen, klein tot middelgroot. Groei : opgaand, krachtige groei. Middelgrote bloem, zeer rijke bloei

CIL Losbladige Cultivarlijst (NKvF, The Netherlands) (no picture)

1310 GLITTERS (Erickson 1963 USA, AFS 0579) Bloem : enkel, middelgrote hangende bloem met opvallende ongewone kleur; bloemen staan aan het einde van de stengels twee aaan twee in de bladoksels en vormen zo trossen. Bloembuis: lang en tamelijk dik; dof diep zalmkleurig met lichtoranje zweem. Kelkbladen : half neergeslagen kelkbladen met iets opgebogen toppen; diep zalmroze met lichtoranje zweem, geleidelijk overgaande tot crême, eindigend in groene top; binnen kant lichtzalmroze. Kroonbladen: vrij korte compacte kroon, mooi uitkomend tussen de kelkbladen; dieporanje, lichter aan basis; donkerder adering; vanuit basis crêmekleurige smalle baan tot halverwege kroonbladen. Helmdraad: lang, roze. Helmpknop: roze. Stuifmeel: crême. Stijl: lang, wit. Stempel: crême, gelobd. Bloei: mild. Bloeitijd: normaal. Knop: langwerpig, zalmroze met groene top. Blad: middelgroot, langwerpig tot lancetvormig; puntige top; puntige voet; getande rand; donkergroen blad met geel-groene zweem; lichtere nerven; voet hoofdnerf en bladsteel rood. Groeiwijze: rechtopgaande krachtige groeier; bossige struik, die spontaan vertakt. Kweekwijze: struik voor zonnige plaats; mooie sterke fuchsia door bladkleur in combinatie met fraai-gekleurde knoppen: zalmroze met groene toppen en de bloemen.

Visualmaterial for Glitters from differend courses :

•    https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/186931/

•    https://pics.davesgarden.com/pics/2009/07/29/PedricksCorner/d986d1.jpg

•    https://fuchsiafinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/600x800EdwardSpack-Glitters.jpg

•    Salli Dahl's boek 'Still Wildly Seeking Fuchsias'

•    https://fuchsiafinder.com/fuchsia/glitters/

•    https://www.ddfgg.de/fuchsien/fuchsienverzeichnis/fuchsienverzeichnis_ausgabe_name.php?num=5615&

      sprache=englisch

•    https://vanschaik.nu/_data_sigrid/public/index_gb.php

•    http://fuchsiavereniging.nl/component/jshopping/product/view/1/4742

•    http://nzfuchsia.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/Glitters.jpg

•    boek A Second Colour Guide To Fuchsias (G. and A. Walker, United Kingdom)

•    boek Eileen Saunders : Wagtails book of fuchsias Volume 1 and 2

•    boek The Fuchsia Album Volume 3

•    boek 500 Fuchsia's te Kijk (Miep Nijhuis, 1995, The Netherlands)

Eddy De Boever

administrator FuchsiaFinder.com

administrator Fuchsia’s uit Belgiê