Callistemon White Anzac

Callistemon White Anzac (Callistemon 'White Anzac') is the white flowered bottlebrush, and one of the most adaptable natives we grow. It reaches about 1.5m tall and 2m across, so it is wider than it is tall, with arching branches that weep at the tips and cream white brushes through spring and often again in autumn. It handles a soggy drainage line or a dry western verge, and it is frost hardy and salt tolerant as well.

Why you'll love it

• White brushes, not red. Cream white flowers against fresh green foliage combine with anything, where a red bottlebrush would fight the planting.
• A soft weeping habit. Arching branches spread wider than the plant is tall, giving a relaxed mounded shape that softens hard edges.
• Wet or dry, it copes. It tolerates periodic wet feet and is drought tolerant once established. Very few shrubs give you both.
• Frost hardy and coastal. Cold southern winters and salt laden wind are both within range, so it plants out across most of the country.
• Alive with birds. Honeyeaters work the brushes and native bees follow, which brings birds into a small garden fast.

Where it works best

Low informal hedging. Plant 1m apart for a low informal hedge. The spreading branches knit into a soft wall about 1.5m high in two to three seasons.

Mass planting and borders. On a bank or a wide bed, set plants 1m to 1.2m apart. The weeping habit makes the planting read as one sweep.

Damp ground and coastal gardens. Because it takes periodic waterlogging it suits a swale or a low corner, and salt tolerance makes it reliable near the water.

Growing Callistemon White Anzac in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering; in part shade the brushes thin noticeably. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and arid to semi-arid gardens, and it is frost hardy, so cold inland and southern districts are within range.

Soil. Genuinely undemanding. Sand, loam and heavy clay all work, and unlike most shrubs it accepts ground that stays wet for a spell after rain. Mulch 75mm deep, clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Deep water twice a week through the first summer, then taper off. Feed in early spring with a low phosphorus native fertiliser, and again after the main flowering for a stronger second flush.

Pruning. Prune straight after each flowering, cutting just behind the spent brushes into the green growth below. That habit keeps a bottlebrush dense instead of woody, and it reshoots from old wood, so a neglected plant can be cut back hard in early spring.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock: young, single stemmed plants. A tube is the practical unit for the job most people buy it for, since a 10m hedge run at 1m spacing needs 10 plants, and tubes grow away fast enough to close that gap in two to three seasons.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect a quiet few weeks, then rapid growth through the first warm season and the first brushes in year two. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Growing and caring for callistemon
• Compare the full callistemon collection
• Plants that suit mass planting
• Top bird attracting native plants

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

One metre apart in a single row. Each plant spreads to about 2m, so at that spacing the branches overlap and the hedge closes without the bases competing for water.

How tall does it get, and can I keep it lower?

It settles at about 1.5m tall and 2m wide left alone. Trimming after each flowering holds it at 1m, and because it reshoots from old wood a woody plant can be cut back hard.

Will it grow in a wet spot?

Yes, within reason. It tolerates ground that saturates after rain and drains over a few days, which is why it suits swales and low corners. Permanently standing water is still too much.

Western Australia: this species has escaped from gardens and naturalised in WA, where it competes with local bushland plants. We do not recommend it for gardens in the south west of WA. Please choose a local alternative.