Hosoba Hoshifu Aucuba

Aucuba japonica ‘Hosoba Hoshifu’

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a-10b Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Shrub

Height at Maturity: 5-6′

Width at Maturity: 5-6′

Spacing: 4′ for solid hedges; 8′ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Dense, Mounding, Upright

Growth Rate: Moderate

Flower Color: Inconspicuous

Flower Size: Tiny

Flowering Period: NA

Flower Type: NA

Fragrant Flowers: NA

Berries: Bright Red with a male Aucuba present

Foliage Color: Very Deep Green

Fragrant Foliage: No

Sun Needs: Shade or Mostly Shade, Morning Sun with Afternoon Shade

Water Needs: Low Once Established

Soil Type: Clay (Amended), Loam, Sand, Silt

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Well Drained Moist to Well Drained Dry (when established)

Soil pH: 6.0 – 7.5

Maintenance / Care: Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer, Disease, Drought, Dry Soil, Heat, Heavy Shade, Insect

Description

One of the most attractive and showy plants in our shade gardens, and ideal for providing a tropical flare to a garden, ‘Hosoba Hoshifu’ Aucuba is a female selection with evergreen leaves that have some of the brightest variegation we’ve seen. The narrow, 7 inch long deep green leaves have sawtooth margins and look as though they’ve been heavily speckled and splotched with neon yellow paint. With a male selection present, such as ‘Mr. Gold Strike’, she’ll produce large, jelly bean sized bright red berries that persist through the winter. Exceptionally easy to grow and low-maintenance, this is one plant that will light up your shade garden with little to no effort at all. Oh, almost forgot…this plant can also be grown indoors year round as a houseplant!

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing 5 to 6 feet tall and wide and handling dense shade to part shade, Hosoba Hoshifu Aucuba is ideal for use as an accent, in groupings, or as a hedge in landscape borders, home foundation plantings, and under the canopies of large shade trees and in other shady areas. A fine addition to woodland or shade gardens, Asian theme gardens, tropical-look gardens and the Xeriscape (low water needs). What’s more…you can grow this flashy beauty year-round indoors as a houseplant!

Suggested Spacing: 4 feet apart for solid hedges; 8 feet or more apart for space between plants

Note: For our customers who live and garden north of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a, where this Aucuba variety is not reliably winter hardy outdoors, you can enjoy it in containers as a year-round houseplant or that can be kept outside during the warm seasons and moved indoors during winter.

Growing Preferences

Aucuba are very easy to grow and low maintenance plants that like a moist to somewhat dry well-drained soil of average fertility and shade to part shade. As with so many other ornamental shrubs, constantly soggy or wet soils are problematic. Aucuba thrive in the shadiest of spots, even under the canopies of large trees and decks where lawn grass and many other plants are difficult to grow. Morning and evening sun are fine but avoid exposure to direct afternoon sun, which can scorch leaves.

Helpful Articles

Click on the link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Aucuba plants.

How To Plant & Care For Aucuba Plants

Plant Long & Prosper!

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I live in NJ and have been buying flowers and trees online for over a decade from various sources. The Wilson Brothers are far and away the best. Their 1, 3 or 5 gallon trees are larger than others’ corresponding sizes. As for shipping, I was concerned about the transit time in a box from NC but it was no problem. The trees always arrived quickly and completely healthy. The Wilson Brothers are my go-to tree sellers now.
Regarding this aucuba, my comments above apply.————————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy your purchases for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG