PlantFiles: Lemon Bottlebrush, Crimson Bottlebrush
Callistemon citrinus

This very attractive shrub is surprisingly hardy.
It (with some damage) survived the winter of 2010/11 in Belfast Northern Ireland which was the coldest on record with temperatures plummeting to -16 C and staying firmly below zero for about two weeks. Tolerates poor (acid) soil as well.

Fully cold hardy in central SC, but hard to find at local nurseries. Often bottlebrush around here is only cold hardy to 9a, although purportedly otherwise. Buyer beware!

Update April, 2011
I lost 4 bottlebrushes to ground voles winter 2011. I'm no longer certain that my cold hardy BB was callistemon citrinus. It was sold w/o tag ID and info. When I moved down here 5 years ago, I bought several BB's that died on me the first winter. They came back from the roots, which was disappointing - I wanted a BB tree, not a struggling, perennial shrub. I just bought 2 more c citrinus trees because I can't find anything else. They were Monrovia plants - beautiful and overpriced. I'm tempted to return them for a garden center credit. If they die back to ground this winter, I will provide another update. There's a lot of confusion out there concerning the cold hardiness of callistemons. I'm very hopeful that DG plantfile info is correct, and my trees remain trees.

Beautiful plant, grows especially well here in western UK where it is very hardy. It loves our high humidity as long as it is given good sandy drainage.

I can only say good things about this plant, it is my favourite shrub by a long way.

Edit: following the past above (which is correct), the hardiness issue needs clearing up.

Callistemon citrinus is hardy in leaf to -6C, it will lose its leaves with lower temperatures but come back up to about -9C

It is only hardy to zone 9a. If anyones survived lower than -10C then it is most likely a different type like C. pallidus, C. rigidus, or C.sibieri.

The plants in the photos on tthe right here are C. rigidus!

Grows like crazy here in Arizona with only twice weekly irrigation in the hottest part of summer. Other times requires very little supplemental irrigation. Extremely drought tolerant.

I have not grown this plant. Lemon Bottlebrush, Crimson Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus) is an introduced plant that has naturalized in Louisiana and Puerto Rico.

I have one (maybe 2...one never was labeled) of these - nice shrub!...especially since we can't seem to grow azaleas with any success (though I'm told some of the evergreen varieties are heat-tolerant).

Grows well in Murfreesboro, Tennessee with protection and a lot of mulch.

This plant is virtually pest-free and grows with no special care. It can flower off and on throughout the year.

Native to Australia and New Zealand, there are about 25 species of Callistemon, which are closely related to the Melaleucas from the same part of the world. The young shoots of C. citrinus are pink or red and silky. The flower spike (the so-called bottle brush) is like a giant pipe cleaner and bright crimson.

Listed as Zone 9, C. citrinus (aka "Crimson Bottlebrush") will tolerate short periods of down to –10°C. C. sieberi is the hardiest of all the species; having been recorded as surviving occasional lows of –17° C.

Raising from seed will yield variable results; some will be scented, others will not.

The foliage smells lemony when crushed or bruised. Bright red flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.