Does anyone know where I can buy one of these bushes/trees? In Summerville area
Bottle Brush Bush
(smile). Did you watch "Making it Grow" last night? I was very pleased to hear that Bottlebrush will survive here, I miss mine. I left them in Florida, thinking thaey wouldn't tolerate the winter, but maybe I'll try for a cutting after all. I'd also be interested in where to get one closer to "home", as I was going to check the mail order sites.
Margo
Are you guys looking for Bottlebrush Buckeye, aka aesculus parviflora? Here are two sources:
www.lazyssfarm.com
www.we-du.com
I've dealt with both nurseries, and they have very healthy plants at pretty good prices.
Bottlebrush does fine around here.
"Are you guys looking for Bottlebrush Buckeye, aka aesculus parviflora?"
I can't speak for dknapp, but this is the one I'm looking for :)
Common Name: Lemon Bottlebrush
Scientific Name: Callistemon citrinus
Family Name: Myrtaceae
Size
Height: 20 to 25 Feet
Canopy Width: 10 to 15 Feet
Rate of Growth: Moderate to fast
Roots:
Under Powerlines:
Appearance
Leaves: Narrow, 3 inch long leaves, coppery red when new, maturing to vivid green. Bruised leaves smell lemony.
Flowers: Bright red, 6 inch long brushes appear in waves throughout the year.
Fruit or Cones: Woody capsules that can last for years; may resemble rows of beads pressed into bark
Bark:
Debris: Moderate
Type: Evergreen
The buckeye also looks like a possibility, so thanks for mentioning it:)
(the other) Margo
I am looking for the same thing as you are catmad.
This is my Red Bottlebrush Buckeye tree. I won't be able to dig it for my move. I actually got mine from a sale at an arboretum. It got a strong dose of cold temps. this spring, so it shows damage from that. It has grown a lot since last year.
Karin - soon to be on the east side of Charlotte ... Yea!
I'm looking for the same thing, Catmad. Maybe one of us will find it.
Lazy S - www.lazyssfarm.com - has one callistemon hardy in zones 7-10, but it's shorter than indicated in your description. Forest Farm - www.forestfarm.com - has three different callistemon varieties. Good luck with your search; have you tried Plant Scout on DG?
This is my red bottlebrush. Would love to know her name. I purchased it at Lowe's a few years ago. We were having 35mph winds when this was taken so some of the blooms are missing.
Looks like a young C. rigidus, BSD. I've got one that's about 5 years old, and it's already 15' tall. Also planted a dwarf variety (more "shrubby" than tree-like) of C. rigidus (Clemson Hardy), and a C. "Woodlander's Hardy". Not really impressed with either of the shrub-size plants so far (but they're only 3 years old). Will try to post pics tomorrow.
Also have an Aesculus parviflora planted near the Callistemon. It's struggling mightily---not sure it will make it in this clime. Go figure---the Aesculus is considered a "native" plant to the area, the Callistemon not...
I'm still not sure if y'all are looking for Aesculus or Callistemon (big difference :-)
If Callistemon try Woodlander's Nursery http://www.woodlanders.net Callistemon 'Woodlanders Hardy Red' is indeed winter-hardy here in Raleigh, NC just like it says in their catalog. http://www.woodlanders.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=301 Not the showiest of the bottlebrush bushes but it's the only one that is reliably hardy this far north. It looks OK once it fills out some.
Thanks Stono and Tom!
I'm not sure which it is. I can tell you I have not been greatly impressed with it. This is year 4 and the first time with that many blooms (see picture) It is an evergreen and was one of the few things in my garden that was not burned when the temp dropped to 27 a few weeks ago. It seems to branch off in many directions. Catmad's description of the Callistemon Citrinus seems to fit this one except the growth has been slow. The leaves do have the lemon scent.
My neighbor has a beautiful bottlebrush shrub that is full and compact. About 6' tall x 6'wide. The blooms look like mine but the folliage is entirely different. It bloom profusely in the summer.
Believe you're dealing with C. rigidus here BSD, based on the picture---not Aesculus. I'll attempt to post pics tomorrow, but I'm an analog man trying to survive in a digital world, and I ain't doing real well...them digital people are like Huns, swarming over the hillside! I think it's called the "next generation"...
Thanks Stono---
Hang in there, them digital people haven't been around as long as you and I have.
We can probably outsmart them any day of the week. It will just take us a little longer.
My hubbie and I were at a wedding a few weeks ago at the old wooden Presbyterian Church on Johns Island. You have a beautiful island.
Thanks again for your help.
I've attached a photo of the two Bottle Brush plants I have growing here to show the different forms the plant. C. rigidus is the tall tree-like plant in the back; the shorter yellowy green bush at it's base is C. 'woodlander's hardy'. The flowers are roughly similar but appear at different times. You can tell that the tree form has just about finished it's first flush. The shrub form doesnt even have buds yet.
I know where you can get some in Summerville, although they are not blooming right now. There is a nursery on Miles Road where it meets Gahagan road (I forgot the name of the place). They have about four bottle brush trees that have already bloomed (blooms are gone now). From what I recall, they were priced at $199.00 each!!! It looks like they haven't sold any of them, so they may be willing to come down on the price.
Good grief! For a plant that grows so quickly?
I'll sell you bottle brushes all day for $100 a piece. LOL. That's way to much unless they're 12-15 ft tall.
I just looked BB's up on this web site, looks like they're not common at all. Where I am they're common. Hmmm maybe I'll set up a small nursery. They are easy to grow, stick them in the ground and they grow. Thats it.
Both are quite common here in Vegas and I checked out the prices on them both when at Lowes earlier after reading this.
I can get either in a 15 gallon tub 6-8 ft tall for 49.00.
Maybe a mail order or internet might be an alterative for you......
Corey, I have been seeing them limbed up as trees recently. That must be what they ae charging so much for. It is still ridiculuous, they are so super easy to grow. You have a good idea there about setting up a nursery just for the various BB's.
I know some native families who would rent me some land or something like that in northern Beaufort county. How many BB's you think can be grown on an acre of land? They don't need much water and grow fast. Might be a business plan. I guess you could set up a web site and sell them that way. $100 for a 6 footer, 1000 X 100 = 100,000. Hmmmm. 6 footer, your probably talking 4 years.
You might be on to something. For that matter sweet gum and maples grow like there's no tomorrow around here. We could set up "It grows like H### around here nursery", I mean "Hard to find SC delights". LOL. MG's, Muscadines. Throw seesds into the wind and those will grow.
and how about Virginia Creeper that some people actually BUY! :-)))))))
I didn't even think about what annoys me and I pull out of yard all the time. I have a really bad view of raspberries. I can't kill those things off for the life of me. I'm going to have to think about this.
Better yet, Ardesia, how about people making money selling Smilax as a "house plant"(I've seen it in catalogues billed as a "gorgeous twining vine")!!! Makes me wonder as a retired Marketing person if I couldn't make some dough offering Dollar Weed and Florida Betany for sale on the Internet. I'd bill the former as "...like having your own water lilly pond in your living room", and the latter as "a mess of green stuff anywhere in your house that you can't kill, no matter how hard you try, with delicious roots". If I were a really mean person, I believe I could pull this off...
I can picture someone buying dollar weeds. LOL. Quick ground cover?
After more years than I care to admit, I have discovered there is a specific variety of Smilax that IS desirable in the garden. Unfortunately, the mean, pesky type is what I have all over my garden.
Whenever I read about people using Smilax in bridal bouquets I wondered and finally found the good stuff. It really is pretty and gets wonderful and interesting berries. All the old timey southern homes had it on the veranda. I am going to try and get some seeds for the good stuff. I tried cuttings and failed miserably. If my friend who has it trailing all over her garden walls is home I'll get a picture for you.
I'd love to see it, Ardesia. The only thing I've heard used in bridal bouquets is Stephanotis---but I'm not big on following bridal customs... Does the "good" Smilax have the same nasty thorns as the "bad" Smilax?
I found Bottle Brush at Southern Gardner of 78 in Summerville. 1 was about 2 ft tall for 30.00 and the was about 4ft for 39. They are very nice. I hope this helps someone out.
Ardesia,
I've seen silver lace vine used in wedding bouquet. Look below and tell us if it is similar to this. Smilax makes me nervous!!
http://davesgarden.com/pf/showimage/128151/
That's a really pretty plant, BSD! I've always resisted it because of the reported growth rate---30-60 ft a yr scares the beejeezes out of me! Have you grown it? Does it really grow like Kudzu, or is that just marketing hype?
Thanks Stono but that's not my plant. It is from the plant file. Mine that is called Silver lace vine has smaller leaves and the blooms are more wide spread. It will bloom in a few weeks and I'll take a pic for you. Mine grows on our fence each year but no more than 6-8 ft. It is very fragrant and has more of a lacy effect than the one in this picture. I was told that it is silver lace vine but it might not be..
I'm with you--I don't want anything that will grow 30-60 ft.
No, the Smilax I am speaking of is a lot like the evil weedy one. It starts out with a thick, pale green stem going straight up and it is covered with the nastiest looking thorns then it starts vining and there are no more thorns. I have been out of town, as soon as I catch up I will try and take a few photos.
The only plant I've seen consistently labeled as "Silver Lace Vine" is Polygonum aubertii in the literature, BSD. And they are consistent in reporting "rampant growth"... But I think the plant has been reclassified into something called "Fallopia baldschuanica", so maybe they're discovering varieties which don't show the "rampant growth" pattern of the species? Don't even pretend to understand these botanical "naming" freaks who seem to change their minds faster than our "best" politicians...but I'd love to see a picture of a well-behaved "Silver Lace Vine". I have just the spot for it!
Ardesia---would love to see some photo's of a kinder, gentler Smilax! Could change my whole perspective on the weed...
I found my Bottle Brush a couple of years ago at Legare's Nursery on Johns Island. It's C. Rigidus, and it's a butterfly magnet.
Hey Stono River --- I live on Johns Island, too!
It's a small world, isn't it, alteredstate? I got my C. rigidus a few years ago from guess where? Legare Farms! Helen conned me into it (over C. citrinus, which she also had), and I'm totally ectsatic with the results. It provides just the "look" I was trying to achieve (Woodland transition), and requires almost no attention. And it IS a butterfly magnet! And an eye magnet. I love the thing! Not so happy with the shrub forms, though. It pays to listen to folks who "growed up here"---they know!
Is Legare Farms the place near the JI airport?
Stono, this is too funny --- Helen talked me into the C. rigidus, too! I'm glad she did --- Hummingbirds love that thing!
Ardesia, Legare's is just past the airport. We also have an herb farm on Johns Island --- "Pete's Herbs". I find lots of weird Salvias at Pete's.