Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Description:

This beautiful large shrub or small tree makes a unique addition to the landscape; its narrow, deep green foliage surrounds the clusters of striking red bottlebrush flowers; blooms all year, but mostly spring to early summer; heat and drought tolerant

Ornamental Features

Red Cluster Bottlebrush features showy clusters of red catkins at the ends of the branches from early spring to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. It has attractive dark green foliage with hints of silver which emerges light green in spring. The fragrant narrow leaves are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. The shaggy gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Red Cluster Bottlebrush is a multi-stemmed evergreen tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which can make it a great accent feature on this basis alone.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Red Cluster Bottlebrush is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Red Cluster Bottlebrush will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under average home landscape conditions. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Red Cluster Bottlebrush is a fine choice for the yard, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.

This plant is not reliably hardy in our region, and certain restrictions may apply; contact the store for more information.