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Alpine Bottlebrush

Callistemon pityoides

 

Alpine Bottlebrush (Callistemon pityoides) at A Very Successful Garden Center

Alpine Bottlebrush

Alpine Bottlebrush

(Photo courtesy of NetPS Plant Finder)

Height:  4 feet

Spread:  3 feet

Sunlight:  full sun  partial shade 

Hardiness Zone:  8a

Description:

A compact, upright selection featuring cream to pale yellow bottlebrush blooms in summer, over densely arranged, dark green needle-like foliage; adaptable, and tolerant of light frost; great for rock gardens or containers

Ornamental Features

Alpine Bottlebrush features showy spikes of creamy white catkins with buttery yellow overtones at the ends of the branches from mid spring to mid summer. It has attractive dark green foliage with grayish green undersides. The small fragrant needles are highly ornamental and remain dark green throughout the winter. The smooth gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Alpine Bottlebrush is an open multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. 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 shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Alpine Bottlebrush is recommended for the following landscape applications;

  • Mass Planting
  • Rock/Alpine Gardens
  • General Garden Use
  • Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Alpine Bottlebrush will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It has a low canopy. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.

Alpine Bottlebrush makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants 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.

 
 
Hardiness Zone Plant Height Minimum Sunlight
Characteristics
Massing  Rock  Garden  Container 
Applications
Flowers  Foliage Color  Texture  Bark  Attracts Wildlife 
Ornamental Features