Callistemon 'Tangerine Dream'

Callistemon 'Tangerine Dream' (Callistemon 'Tangerine Dream') is a compact bottlebrush with brushes in a clear tangerine orange rather than the usual red. It grows to about 1.5m tall and 1.5m wide, small enough for a low hedge or a suburban front garden, and flowers heavily in spring with a lighter repeat in autumn. Honeyeaters find it within days of the first brushes opening.

Why you'll love it

• Orange brushes, not red. Tangerine Dream sits between the common red bottlebrushes and the cream forms, and reads as warm colour right across a garden.
• Compact and even. At 1.5m by 1.5m it makes a naturally rounded shrub that needs far less cutting back than the tree forms of callistemon.
• Birds work it constantly. Nectar rich brushes bring honeyeaters, lorikeets and native bees into the garden through spring.
• Tolerant of almost everything. Frost, drought, heat, salt wind and periods of wet feet are all within its range.
• Native and low maintenance. One trim after flowering and a light native feed each spring is the whole job.

Where it works best

Hedging and screening. Plant 1m apart for a dense low hedge. At that spacing the plants meet within two seasons and hold foliage at the base, giving a soft informal screen around 1.5m high.

Mass planting. The same 1m spacing works on a bank or a nature strip, where its tolerance of both dry spells and occasional waterlogging is a real advantage.

Coastal gardens and feature planting. Salt tolerance makes it reliable on exposed coastal blocks, and a single plant works as a rounded feature in a native bed.

Growing callistemon in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, though it will grow in part shade and flower less. It performs across tropical, subtropical, warm temperate and cool temperate gardens and is frost hardy once established.

Soil. Not fussy. It grows in clay, sand and everything between, and unusually it accepts periods of wet feet, so it suits a damp corner or a swale. Mulch 75mm deep, kept clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to get the roots down, after which it is genuinely drought tolerant. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring, because standard garden blends carry too much phosphorus for callistemons.

Pruning. Trim straight after each flowering flush, cutting just below the spent brushes. That single habit keeps a bottlebrush dense instead of leggy, and it lifts the following season's flowering as well.

What to expect when it arrives

Tangerine Dream is sold as tube stock: a young plant with little top growth and a root system already well developed for its size. For natives that is often the better buy, because tube stock establishes faster than potted advanced stock and catches up within two seasons.

Expect around 30 to 50cm of growth a year once the roots are away, with the first real flowering display in the second spring. Plant in autumn or spring, avoiding the peak of summer. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• A complete guide to growing callistemon
• Browse the full callistemon range
• Compare screening plants from 1m to 2m
• More bird attracting plants

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

One metre apart in a single row gives a dense low hedge within about two seasons. For an informal screen where you want to see each plant's shape, stretch it to 1.5m.

Can I keep it smaller than 1.5m?

Yes. Trimming after each flowering flush holds it at around 1m without spoiling the display, because it reshoots readily from trimmed wood. Avoid cutting into bare old wood, which recovers slowly.

Will it grow in a wet spot?

It tolerates periods of wet feet better than most shrubs, so a low spot that stays damp after rain is fine. Permanently waterlogged ground is still too much, and it will not thrive in standing water.