Callistemon

Just starting to flower

Jealous! Not done at all well with mine. Killed one & had to cut other one right down. Winter damage both times. 🙄

I do protect mine over winter with two fleece jackets, I have done this since my neighbours mature speciesism died during a bad winter, they can be successfully proper gated, may be worth a try.

At what point would you take a cutting?? I bought mine half dead will try and see if it comes to life next year but it might be worth a cutting anyway!!!

Now would be a good time to take a semi hardwood cutting from a side shoot

My sister-in-law neighbour has a huge one hopefully I can get a cutting from that but I'm not sure what semi hardwood is 😣

A semi hardwood cutting is a new shoot that is partly green stemmed at the top and turning into soft wood at the bottom, slightly bendy, I proper gated mine using a plant hormone powder and using a free draining compost covered with a plastic bag, taking it of every day to check it has not dried out, took about a month to strike roots.

Do you prune your Bottle Brush, @cnash? We've inherited one that could do with a good haircut but I'm worried about doing more harm than good.

Yes, after flowering, I prune it , to get it back into shape, this time of year.