General Culture:

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-10. Best in moist, fertile, well-drained soils in full sun. Established plants tolerate some soil dryness. In St. Louis, grow in containers that must be overwintered indoors in a bright cool sun room or greenhouse.

Noteworthy Characteristics:

Native to Australia, stiff bottlebrush (also erect bottlebrush) is a medium-sized, upright, evergreen tropical shrub that will grow to 10-15’ tall in its native habitat. It is commonly grown as a specimen or hedge in frost free areas such as the southern parts of Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. In containers in northern climates, it is typically grown as a 3-5’ tall shrub or trained as a small standard. Flowers feature numerous bushy bright red stamens that encircle the stem in cylindrical spikes (to 4” long) resembling bottlebrushes. Flowers bloom intermittently throughout the year in frost free areas, but more typically in summer in St. Louis. Flowers are attractive to bees. Flowers are followed by small, button-like, brown seed capsules. Narrow, linear, dull green leaves (to 5” long) are fragrant when bruised. Genus name comes from the Greek words for beautiful (callis) and stamen (stemon) in obvious reference to the flowers.