Callistemon rugulosus
Rugged bottle brush
Also known as Callistemon laevis
- Height × spread
- 2m × 2m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Flowers
- Summer
Availability
Generally available in late Spring & early Summer
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This makes a substantial but rather tender shrub that is not really frost hardy. It should be over wintered in a cool greenhouse except in the very warmest parts of Britain and Ireland. It makes a big bushy shrub with slender branches crowded with long dark-green leaves. The flowers are large bottle brushes; rose-pink, bristly, and with gold tints at the tip of the bristles. It flowers during late spring and early summer. It will make a more garden worthy shrub, and a more manageable one when grown in a pot, if it is pruned back after flowering reducing the length of the flowering stems. If pruned for containment it should reach around 2m (7ft) height and spread. It is likely to achieve more than twice those dimensions if left to its own devices in a very warm site.
- Flower colour
- Pink
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Stem colour
- Brown, Red
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- Yes
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 2m
- Spread
- 2m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Evergreen
- Garden style
- Small scale garden, Seaside garden, Scented garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun
- Soil type
- Loam (normal), Poor soil, Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- Acid (ericaceous), Neutral
- Drainage
- Well drained soil, Dry soil, Drought resistant
- Hardiness
- Average winter to - 10C (RHS H4)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Wall cover, Structural
- Walls
- South facing
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with sequestrol
If plants are acid loving and grown in soil with little acidity, or in a container, or are watered with limey tap water an annual feed with sequestrol (iron chelate) is highly beneficial. Follow guidelines on the packet. Will also 'blue-up' hydrangeas.
For hydrangeas that have good blue flowers in acid soil, this product can be used with alkaline soil to turn the flowers blue. This is most effective when the soil is neutral or just slightkly alkaline.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water in dry periods
Established plants in the ground can cope with 7-10 days of dryness, and shrubs often manage 2 to 3 weeks. Water one section of the garden thoroughly each day rather than a little everywhere. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather.
Summer
Summer · Planting
Prune lightly after flowering
Give the plant a light haircut, generally tidying it up and removing any shoots that are wayward or damaged in any way. Dead flowers can be cut off if this is practical - the shrub may have too many, or they may be hard to reach.
Planting & general
Outdoors
Water with rain water
This plant needs rain water or soft water (the minerals in alkaline or "hard" water are harmful). This is especially important for plants in pots.
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.
Compost · Planting
Ericaceous compost
This plant requires acidic (ericaceous) soil. Where the soil is not acidic, or when planting in pots, use an ericaceous compost.
Found in
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Callistemon Amarette = 'Hutink'
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Crimson Bottle brush, Lemon bottle brush
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Crimson bottle brush