Rainbells

My new favourite plant* - Chinese rainbells!

a) it’s the perfect colour (hot pink)

b) it’s currently covered in flowers

c) it’s dainty yet packs a punch, delicately filling out a decent sized space whilst not crowding out its neighbours

d) it grows easily from cuttings.

What more could you want!

Strobilanthes hamiltoniana, also known as Chinese rainbells, is a perennial shrub that enjoys a moist semi-shady location. It’s native to the subtropical regions of Indochina - from Bangladesh to Bhutan, across India, China and through to Thailand and Vietnam. The foliage is a bright green and it’s a relatively open shrub so it mixes well with others, making a green backdrop that blends unobtrusively. It grows to around 1 - 1.5 meters, slightly taller when flowering when it produces graceful arching branches held away from the foliage so the tubular pink bells are on full display! It’s just started flowering now, at the beginning of Autumn and should continue for another few months. The start of flowering is often timed with the onset of a rainy period. Not that we’ve had that much rain in my specific suburb… I’ve recently been known to get drenched at work, 20 minutes away and return home to nothing! Very frustrating. But nevertheless my rainbells are blooming so I can’t be too sad.

*subject to change at any point in time.