Latin name: Calistemon
Description: The well known Australian Bottle Brush is obviously not from the Mediterranean but is now being seen more often in our gardens since it survives well in drought.They are evergreen, woody evergreen shrubs with mid green tapering leaves with a strong scent when crushed. They are grown for their spectacular flowers which, as their common name suggest, look like a bottle brush. They consist of a number of individual flowers which appear in spring and summer. Pollen is formed on long coloured stalks called filaments. It is the filaments which are invariably red, that give the flower spikes their distinctive shape and colour.
Hardiness: hardy to -5C or -7C depending on species or cultivar
Height: 1-3m depending on species or cultivar
Position: Full sun produces the best flowers
Soil: They grow in a wide range of soils except alkaline
Water: fairly drought tolerant once established
Usage: Another plant that requires close inspection when in flower so best planted close to a pathway
Fri, Mar 30, 2012
Gardening with Mediterranean Plants