Callistemon citrinus
Bottlebrush
Common names: Lemon bottlebrush, Crimson bottlebrush
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Pot size
- from 30 l
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- May–Jul
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −5 °C
- Water need
- High
Photo: JJ Harrison ( · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Callistemon citrinus comes from eastern Australia. It owes its name to its flower spikes, which resemble the brushes once used to clean lamp chimneys. Densely packed spikes, 5 to 10 cm long, consist of bright red stamens with golden-yellow anthers. This evergreen shrub has narrow, leathery leaves that smell of lemon when crushed, and it produces bronze-coloured new growth. In a container it grows 1 to 2 m tall and flowers from May to July. After flowering, round, woody fruits remain close to the branch for years. The bottlebrush is an eye-catching plant for sunny terraces, grown as a bush or as a standard. It tolerates frost only briefly, so it is moved in autumn to a bright, cool winter quarter.
Care instructions
Callistemon citrinus needs a full-sun, warm and sheltered position. After the Ice Saints in mid-May (from calendar week 20), move it outdoors and plant it in acidic to neutral container plant soil. Water preferably with rainwater, as it tolerates lime poorly and develops yellow leaves from it. In summer it needs plenty of water, but the root ball must never stand permanently in water. Fertilise every two weeks from April to August. Cut back spent shoots by one third in August, but never into bare old wood. Common mistakes include a position that is too dark, where it hardly flowers, drought in summer, hard tap water, and a winter quarter that is too warm, where aphids can establish themselves.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringMay–Jul
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, lime-avoiding
The crimson bottlebrush grows best in loose, humus-rich, slightly acidic to neutral soil. In a tub, good-quality container plant compost is suitable, to which you add some sand or lava granules for drainage. It copes poorly with lime: strongly calcareous soil and hard tap water lead over time to yellow leaves. So water with rainwater where possible. The pot needs drainage holes so that excess water can run off.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr–Aug
The crimson bottlebrush grows quickly and flowers richly, so feed it from April to August about every two weeks with a liquid feed for container plants, rather sparingly. In spring you can also put some ripe compost on the soil. From the end of August leave out the fertiliser, so that the shoots ripen before winter. In winter quarters, no feeding.
Pruning
The crimson bottlebrush is pruned after flowering, so in August. Shorten the spent shoots by about a third and remove the flower remains, which keeps the shrub dense and compact. Never cut back into the bare, leafless old wood, because it is slow to sprout again there. A light shaping cut in spring before new growth is possible, but takes away some of this year's flowers.
Overwintering
The crimson bottlebrush tolerates short, light frosts down to about minus 5 degrees, but not lasting frost. Bring it in before the first lasting frost, in November at the latest. Ideal is a bright, cool place at 5 to 10 degrees, for example in a conservatory or in a bright, unheated room. Water sparingly, the root ball should not dry out completely, and do not feed. In a place that is too warm and dark, aphids and spider mites settle, so check the plant regularly and spray it off if infested. In May it may go back out; before that, accustom it step by step to the sun.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
You propagate the crimson bottlebrush by cuttings; it goes more slowly than with many other container plants. From July to September, cut semi-ripe shoot tips 8 to 10 cm long, remove the lower leaves and insert them in a mix of seed compost and sand. Place the pot bright and warm and keep the air humid with a clear dome. Rooting usually takes four to eight weeks, sometimes longer. Overwinter the young plants bright and cool and pot them on in spring.
For your garden
Grow Bottlebrush yourself
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