Plant ID card |
|
|---|---|
Botanical name |
Callistemon citrinus. |
Common name |
Bottle rinse, bottlebrush plant. |
Origin |
Australia. |
Dimensions |
Up to 10 m high and 3 m wide when planted in the ground; it can reach 3 m high in a pot. |
Foliage |
Bottlebrush foliage is composed of thick, lanceolate, alternate, light green leaves. They measure approximately 10 cm long and give off a pleasant lemony smell when crushed between your fingers. |
Bloom |
It is to its flowers, which resemble bottle brushes for rinsing baby bottles, that the bottle rinse owes its name. They form long spikes of 10 to 15 cm. Their pistils with yellow tips are generally red but can also be pink or yellow depending on the variety. |
Exposure |
Very sunny for abundant flowering. |
Ground |
Ideally neutral or acidic, fertile, fresh and above all well drained. |
Rusticity |
-8°C. |
Unmistakable with its flamboyant flowering and graceful habit, the bottlebrush is a first choice ornamental shrub. Although it gives charm to any garden, it requires special attention, particularly when it comes to watering.
Where to plant the bottlebrush?
Bottlebrush is a shrub native to Australia with a
mild climate
. It fears the cold but resists heat and temporary drought well.
Location:
to adorn itself with its magnificent flowers, the bottlebrush appreciates a very sunny location. As it tolerates sea spray well, this beautiful exotic shrub can easily be planted in a garden located by the sea. It thrives both in a pot and in a flower bed among other shrubs, in a hedge or even planted along a wall.
The calistemon is just as good in a pot as in a flower bed among other shrubs, in a hedge or even planted along a wall. Copyright (c) 2019 Peter Turner Photography/Shutterstock. No use without permission.
Soil:
To grow well, bottlebrush must be planted in neutral or acidic, fertile soil. It appreciates cool but well-drained soils in summer, particularly in winter when it cannot tolerate stagnant humidity.
How to maintain the bottlewash plant?
To be able to enjoy the incredible flowering of the bottle rinse, here are the right actions to adopt.
Watering:
because it likes cool soils, bottlebrush requires regular watering in summer for the first few years. However, it does not tolerate stagnant humidity well, so make sure the soil dries well between two waterings. In winter, in a pot, water it very moderately.
Pruning:
to allow the bottlebrush to keep its beautiful bushy and bushy silhouette, severely prune its branches after the flowering period.
Diseases and pests:
Bottlewash can be targeted by mealybugs and spider mites. Observe its foliage regularly to spot a possible invasion as early as possible, especially when you grow it in a pot and bring it indoors in winter to protect it from frost.
When do bottlebrush flowers bloom?
Calistemon, or bottlebrush, offers flamboyant and intense flowering. Copyright (c) 2018 Carlos Tischler/Shutterstock. No use without permission.
The bottlebrush graces us with its intense flowering
from April until autumn
. The more this exotic shrub is exposed to sunlight, the more intense its flowering will be.
This flowering is repeating: after a summer break, in shrubs grown outdoors in optimal conditions of heat and sun, a second, lighter flowering occurs in September.
The flowers of Callistemon are very honey-producing: all kinds of foraging insects come to feed on their abundant nectar.
Is the bottle rinse safe from freezing?
The bottlebrush is a
not very hardy shrub
that does not tolerate episodes of frost well, especially if it is found in damp soil. If planted in well-drained soil, it can very occasionally withstand temperatures around -8°C.
Also, if you live along the Mediterranean rim and more widely in the south of France, you can let it spend the winter outside by taking care to place thick mulch at its base. If you live in any other region, it is best to shelter it in a veranda or any unheated room before the arrival of the first frosts.