The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta, otherwise known as the Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ or Smooth Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’, Hydrangea ‘Annabelle’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Rainforest Sunrise Hosta Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
In order to take proper care of your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ in an environment where it can receive full shade to partial sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, loam, and clay.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta belongs to the Hydrangeaceae family, the genus Hydrangea and the species Arborescens, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ (HOSS-tuh).
As with other Hydrangea’s, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is a plant native to the Eastern U.S..
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, A3.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ can grow up to 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) in 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) and 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) in 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm).
These dimensions make the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta a relatively large shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 48″ – 72″ (120cm – 180cm) free so the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, loam, and clay.
This is why most experts agree that the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta requires soil with loam (silt), sand, clay, high organic matter, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to acid soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta requires full shade to partial sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a herbaceous plant, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its fragrant and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta produces some beautiful purple, or pink, cream/tangreen, and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ to be around (> 6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Rainforest Sunrise Hosta is well known for its tolerance to rocky soil, dry soil, wet soil, clay soil and animals like rabbit, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Hosta X ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most cottage, asian/zen contemporary, and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Rainforest Sunrise Hosta’s best location within your garden is in hedges and screens, beds and borders, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a mass planting, ground cover, firescaping/fire wise, erosion control, edging, container, border, or a woodland garden.
Companion Plants
Rainforest Sunrise Hosta’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Heuchera, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Ligularia will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Rainforest Sunrise Hosta to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
