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Bottle Brush Plant

GardenStudentGardenStudent Posts: 48
in Plants
Hello, I have a bottle brush plant which I brought about 4/5 years ago now. However, this time, the plants’ leaves are all brown. I keep it outside in a pot all year round, with one side against the house and the other side against a hedge. It has been fine in past years but I’m guessing the cold snap at the start of December must’ve damaged it. A few leaves (about 8% of the whole plant) has some green in them but these too are curled and look damaged. The rest of the plant is brown. I’m wondering if it’s completely dead? Or what I can do to help save it? I guess I must cut off all the brown parts of the plant , which is almost all of the plant, but I’m not sure how for to cut away the main thicker stem in the centre of the plant. It is slow growing. Thanks for any advice on this plant. 
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  • GardenerSuzeGardenerSuze Posts: 5,692
    I think you have done well to have kept it going for so long. Callistemon are from Australia, they will survive in milder parts of the country. However last winter was wet and cold.

    I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
  • GardenStudentGardenStudent Posts: 48
    Thanks both. In hindsight I should’ve put it in the shed, but I thought it would’ve been fine after surviving the other winters. It did spend half of this winter in the shed after I noticed the leaves curling up. I’m going to cut some back then and hope for the best 
  • Dobbin26Dobbin26 Posts: 60
    Just looked at mine yesterday morning and it's RIP I'm afraid. It's annoying that national garden centres and national stores sell these and other plants throughout the country when they'll likely only survive in the milder areas of the country. Unfortunately this and others were an impulse buy last summer  :'(
  • Silver surferSilver surfer Posts: 4,719
    Perth. Scotland.  UK. Dobbies. are really bad at selling tender/tropical plants.
    I find it infuriating.
    As if that isn't bad enough they display them outside...in all weathers.
    It is cold here..we get frosts.
    By the time they have been bought they will probably be dying.

    It would help if they sold them inside as houseplants/or suitable for heated conservatories.

    Last year nearly all the outdoor plants in Perth. Dobbies were hit by a late frost .
    Even hardy plants had blackened tips.
    It looked dreadful.
    Must have cost the company a fortune to replace almost everything.
    No way was any one going to pay full price for black tip shrubs.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • SueAtooSueAtoo Posts: 380
    I had two happy ones in the ground in Dorset. I should think most plants are happier in ground unless pots are really, really well insulated.
    East Dorset, new (to me) rather neglected garden.
  • Mrs-B3-Southampton,-HantsMrs-B3-Southampton,-Hants Posts: 732
    My bottlebrush is in the ground, south-facing and has sailed through. It's older than 5 years.
    Southampton 
  • ValleysgirlValleysgirl Posts: 344

  • ValleysgirlValleysgirl Posts: 344
    Picture of what I believe is a Bottlebrush on the street outside our daughters bungalow in Mandurah, Australia . Very striking and comes in a few different colours , one of their native trees/shrubs along with Frangipan . 
  • ErgatesErgates Posts: 2,953
    Here in mild Devon, despite the cold spells and the soggy winter, our small bottlebrush has survived for a few years. They seem to do well in this area, I see lots of them in neighbouring gardens. When I’ve been choosing new plants, still being an amateur, I do tend to look around the local area to see what seems to be thriving.
  • LilyWLilyW Posts: 41
    my BB is in a pot, next to the house. It sat in snow for a week and is alive but struggling. The side next to the house is green but the other side is brown. It shows how much heat must be leaking from the house.

    have given it a good shake to loosen all the dead leaves. Not sure how to trim it back.

    just saw beautiful large BB trees in Morocco. They are a long way from home here in frosty Guildford!
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