Sunday, December 19, 2010

Today's Flowers; Callistemon/Bottlebrush;


Callistemon Violacea;

Callistemon...from Greek kalos; beautiful and stemon; stamens.



Pictures TS from my garden; please click...


Although one of the older Callistemon cultivars, Callistemon 'Violaceus' is typical of some of the excellent, colourful bottlebrush cultivars and hybrids that have become available in recent years. Similar cultivars include 'Purple Splendour', 'Purple Cloud' and 'Mauve Mist'. All of these form dense, bushy shrubs 2-3 metres tall by a similar spread, producing yellow-tipped purple brushes in mid to late spring (October to November). They are hardy shrubs which will withstand at least moderate frost and which flower best in a sunny position.
Like most Callistemon cultivars, C.'Violaceus' produces viable seed which germinates easily. However, because of seedling variation, any plants produced from this seed will not be identical to the parent plant and cannot be called 'Violaceus'. Plants produced from cuttings (which usually strike readily) will produce genetically identical plants to the parent.
Many callistemons can tolerate less than perfect drainage but usually perform best in gardens with reasonable drainage and regular availability of water. Callistemons respond well to annual fertilising after flowering and are not as sensitive as some other Australian plants to phosphorus.

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10 comments:

diane b said...

They are a pretty pink. I have them too so thanks for the information.

msdewberry said...

I've never heard of these flowers before. They are pretty!

Larry said...

Lovely photos... L

Carver said...

Those are very beautiful. I like how they are fuzzy. Very interesting post.

Pat said...

Interesting flowers. while they do look like a bottle brush they also remind me of a fuzzy caterpillar. Happy Christmas.

Stephanie said...

Bottlebrush blooms never fail to look spectacular under the bright sunny sky. In fact, the brigther the day, the better they look. Also, I like to observe how the stamens burst out from the buds and eventually form the bottlebrush. The blooms are indeed beautiful :-D

Míriam Luiza said...

Esta flor é miot linda e diferente, mas o que me encantou foi a foto de entrada do blog! As flores têm uma cor maravilhosa, e aquele banco ao fundo me convidou a sentar e apreciar a linda árvore florida!

Anonymous said...

Wünsche Dir ein frohes Weihnachtsfest!!

Durch die glitzernde Welt der Sterne
Fliegt ein Wunsch von mir
Durch die weite Ferne
Geradewegs zu dir.
LG Gisela.
Deine vielen Blogs verwirren mich:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Trudi,

So far I've only seen the red ones. This is such a delicious shade of pink! Interesting...reading all that information.

Have a great day!

SandyCarlson said...

These are gorgeous flowers.