Callistemon Taree Pink

Callistemon 'Taree Pink' (Callistemon 'Taree Pink') is an Australian bred bottlebrush that gives a fast screen and soft pink flowers at once. Left to grow it reaches about 3.5m tall and 2.5m wide, and it clips comfortably to a 2m hedge. Most bottlebrushes are red; the pink brushes read far softer against a fence.

Why you'll love it

• Pink brushes instead of red. Soft pink flowers through spring and again in the warmer months.
• Fast to screen. One of the quicker native screens, filling a boundary in two to three seasons.
• Tough in every direction. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant, wind tolerant, comfortable in poor soil and able to take periods of wet feet.
• Honeyeaters find it quickly. The brushes are heavy with nectar, so birds and native bees arrive within a season.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 1.5m apart in a single row. At that spacing the canopies meet within two to three seasons and each plant fills out low down rather than stretching for light.

Hedging. Clipped twice a year it holds neatly at 1.8m to 2.5m, and because it shoots from old wood a hedge that has been let go can be cut hard and rebuilt rather than replaced.

Windbreaks and features. A double staggered row at 1.5m filters wind on an exposed rural or coastal block, and grown on a single leader it makes a small flowering tree for a front garden or a verge.

Growing Callistemon 'Taree Pink' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering; part shade is tolerated, though the screen stays looser. It is a national plant, suited to tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and arid or semi arid gardens, and frost hardy enough for cold inland and southern districts.

Soil. Undemanding: it performs in poor sandy soil and in clay, and handles ground that stays wet after heavy rain. Work compost through the planting row and mulch 75mm deep.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper off, since established plants are properly drought tolerant. Feed with a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring and after the main flowering; standard fertilisers are too high in phosphorus for this genus.

Pruning. Trim immediately after each flowering flush, cutting back just below the spent brushes into the green growth. Done every year, that keeps a hedge dense at the base, and neglected plants can be cut hard into old wood and will reshoot.

What to expect when it arrives

This variety comes in one size, tube stock, which suits its main use: a screen takes a lot of plants. Each is young and single stemmed, and with water and a spring feed it makes useful height in its first full season.

Tube stock travels well, arriving with a tight root plug. Plant it out promptly and tip prune from the start to build low branching. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Growing and pruning bottlebrush
• Compare the full callistemon range.
• Screening plants in the 2m to 4m band
• Browse more bird attracting plants.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Any closer and the plants shade each other out low down, which leaves a gap along the bottom.

How fast does it grow?

Fast for a native screen. In a warm garden with water and a spring feed, expect around a metre of height a year once the roots are away, slower in cool southern gardens.

Why has my bottlebrush gone leggy?

Almost always a missed prune. Cutting back just below the spent brushes after each flush forces branching low down; a plant left for years can be cut hard into old wood to bring it back.