Ugly Bottlebrush

Bottlebrushes (Callistemon spp.) are wonderful plants for the garden. They are long-lived, require little maintenance and are almost impossible to kill. They make good screens, hedges, feature plants and street trees, and they are attractive to honeyeaters and other native birds. Bottlebrushes are found naturally around rivers, creeks and in moist soils, so they're a good choice for a wet, poorly drained area in the garden.

However, as seen in our segment, some good flowering forms have one drawback. They produce woody seed capsules, which persist along the stems and can look very unsightly.

What to do

One solution is to prune off the spent flower heads at the base of the flower spike. This encourages more flowers as well as a compact and attractive plant. However, it is a tedious, never ending job that becomes more difficult as the plant grows taller. Don recommends planting sterile hybrids such as 'King's Park Special' and 'Harkness'. These varieties do not produce ugly seed heads, so don't need pruning except to maintain compact growth.

Callistemon 'King's Park Special'
is a tall-growing bottlebrush to around 5m (15') high. It has crimson brushes in multiple heads in spring and summer. It prefers moist to wet soil in full sun.

Callistemon 'Harkness'
(also known as C. 'Gawler Hybrid') grows about 3-5m tall and has light green leaves with pink new growth. It produces clusters of long, blood-red bottlebrush flowers in spring and early summer. It grows well in most areas of Australia, but needs a warm, sheltered position in very cold zones. It thrives in the alkaline soils of Adelaide, where it originated in 1937.

Getting started

Callistemon 'Harkness' and 'Kings Park Special' cost around $16.50 for a 200mm (8") pot.

Bottlebrushes are readily available in the native plant section of your local nursery, or at specialist native plant nurseries such as:

NSW
Annangrove Grevilleas Native Nursery, Kenthurst. Phone: (02) 9654 1380
Cranebrook Native Nursery, Cranebrook. Phone: (02) 4777 4256
Sydney Wildflower Nursery West, Marsden Park. Phone: (02) 9628 4448
Sydney Wildflower Nursery South, Heathcote. Phone: (02) 9548 2818

QLD
Fairhill Native Plants, Yandina. Phone: (07) 5446 7088
Nielsen's Native Nursery, Loganholme. Phone: (07) 3806 1414

VIC
Kuranga Native Nursery, Ringwood. Phone: (03) 9879 4076
Mt Cassell Native Nursery, Pomonal. Phone: (03) 5356 6351

SA
Nellie Nursery, Mannum. Phone: (08) 8569 1762

WA
Zanthorrea Nursery, Maida Vale. Phone: (08) 9454 6260

Copyright CTC Productions 2002