Tree Tuesday: Callistemon - Bottlebrush

The bottlebrush is evergreen and can be grown as a shrub with a few trunks or as a tree with a single trunk. It can grow up to 8 metres tall. Its name derived from the brush like flowers. The Callistemon is native to Australia and there are over 40 species. It is considered as an invasive tree in certain regions of South Africa because it out-competes our indigenous species.

On this photo below you can see the light green calyx tubes with five petals each, holding a red style.

The flowers consist of dense elongated spikes and are cylindrical. The striking bright red or dark pink flowers bloom in spring and summer. It has woody seed pods along the stem which only open up after a year to release the seed.

On the above photo, you can clearly see the little brown seed pods in clusters along the stem and a brush not in bloom yet.

The bottlebrush is quite a hardy tree but if you want full growth and brightly coloured blooms, you need to plant it in an area where it can enjoy full sun, in well-drained and low alkaline soil, water once a week and prune it.

Pruning depends on the look you would like to create. You can either leave the drooping branches to make the plant appear more mystical (main photo) or prune the branches back to give it a cleaner formal look (2nd photo from the top). Only prune plants after flowering.

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