Botanical Name: Callistemon citrinus 'Endeavour'
Common Name: Crimson Bottlebrush

 

Use: Outdoors
Indigenous/Exotic : Exotic
Evergreen/Deciduous : Evergreen
Plant Type : Shrub
Flower Colour : Crimson red
Foliage Colour : Green
Best Season : Early summer, autumn
Light : Sun
Hardiness : Semi hardy
Attributes :  
Height (m) : 1 - 4
Spread (m) : 1 - 2.5
   
Notes: Callistemon citrinus ‘Splendens’, usually sold in the trade as ‘Endeavour’, has scarlet flowers and  typical narrow leaves.

 

The Australian shrubs which belong to the large bottlebrush family are particularly well suited to South African conditions and an interesting new range of hybrids has added to their popularity. Their stiff, spiky flowers are produced mainly in early summer, but they often have a second flowering during the late summer and early autumn.

 

Bottlebrushes can be divided into two main groups. The upright types, which are mainly Callistemon citrinus cultivars, and the weeping C. viminalis hybrids.

 

A more compact cultivar suited to small gardens is C. citrinus ‘Little John’ with dark red flowers which only grows to about 60cm.

 

While red is the traditional colour for the bottlebrush, there are some mauve and pink cultivars, such as C. citrinus ‘Mauve Mist’ and C. citrinus ‘Perth Pink’.

 

Of the weeping bottlebrushes available, the tall-growing variety C. viminalis ‘McCaskilli’ makes a fine accent shrub, as do the more compact C. viminalis ‘Captain Cook’ and ‘Hannah Ray’.

 

These easy-to-grow bottlebrushes can be relied upon to give a dramatic splash of colour. Plant the tall types as background specimens, weeping ones as focal points and smaller kinds as dense foreground plants. They make especially good companions to grevilleas and mix in well with a number of indigenous plants which like similar growing conditions, such as pincushions.

 

Bottlebrushes can be grown in most parts of the country, except those with very severe frost. As they are both drought and wind resistant, they are particularly well suited to the drier, mild areas.

 

Plant in a hot, sunny position in ordinary garden soil which is well drained, and water regularly until they are well established. Cut off the flower spikes before they set seed to encourage more buds.