Callistemon Summer Days
Callistemon nyallingensis
It’s always good when plants choose to do something out of the ordinary. Quirky? Maybe. Opportunistic? More than likely. Callistemon Summer Days is unusual on several counts. With an arching habit, the dark wine-red brushes are held out on the ends of the branches, begging honeyeaters to drop by for a feed. It’s lovely to watch a Spinebill swaying gently on the flower. Even better, flowering time is generally much later than most Callistemons, right into summer, and thereby extending the mutually beneficial pollination-by-birds timeframe. Adaptable to very wet or moderately dry soils, in cold to sub tropical climates, it’s frost hardy, likes full sun, suits a coastal garden and works well in any mixed shrubbery of one to two metres in height. A foliage trim after flowering will double the display each year, and heavier clipping produces a very nice hedge.
