The Sonic Smash Heucherella, otherwise known as the Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ or Tropical Hibiscus ‘Brilliant’, Chinese Hibiscus ‘Brilliant’, ‘Brilliant’ Hibiscus, 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 multicolored colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Sonic Smash Heucherella Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Sonic Smash Heucherella are the following:
- Water: The Sonic Smash Heucherella will blossom with regular watering. Needs more water in hot areas but reduced amount once established.
- Light: Keep your Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ in an environment where it can receive partial shade to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Sonic Smash Heucherella in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of loam.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Sonic Smash Heucherella this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Sonic Smash Heucherella belongs to the Malvaceae family, the genus Hibiscus and the species Rosa, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ (hew-ker-REL-uh).
As with other Hibiscus’s, the Sonic Smash Heucherella is a herbaceous plant, which means it will die back to the ground every year.
Growing Region
The Sonic Smash Heucherella is a plant native to the Asia.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Sonic Smash Heucherella. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 12 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a, 11b, 11a and the ideal climate zone is between 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Sonic Smash Heucherella is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Sonic Smash Heucherella are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ can grow up to 8′ – 10′ (240cm – 3m) in 8′ – 10′ (240cm – 3m) and 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm) in 4′ – 6′ (120cm – 180cm).
These dimensions make the Sonic Smash Heucherella 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.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful rounded shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 72″ (180cm) free so the Sonic Smash Heucherella can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Sonic Smash Heucherella 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 Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ will blossom with regular watering. Needs more water in hot areas but reduced amount once established.
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 Sonic Smash Heucherella 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 properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Sonic Smash Heucherella since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Sonic Smash Heucherella prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of loam.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably neutral to alkaline soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Sonic Smash Heucherella requires partial shade to full 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 Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ 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 Sonic Smash Heucherella will die back to the ground every year.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Sonic Smash Heucherella to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Sonic Smash Heucherella produces some beautiful white, or pink, gold/yellow and red/burgundy flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Sonic Smash Heucherella have a beautiful multicolored 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 Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Sonic Smash Heucherella is well known for being able to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Heucherella X ‘Sonic Smash’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Sonic Smash Heucherella? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Sonic Smash Heucherella’s best location within your garden is in hedges and screens, beds and borders, and in patio and containers,.
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Sonic Smash Heucherella in your garden or home.
