Bottlebrush

Value to bees

Nectar

Very high

Pollen

High

As a honey crop

Minor honey crop — a surplus only locally or occasionally

Which bees, and why

Bottlebrush flowers are brush inflorescences evolved for honeyeaters and lorikeets, which take a large share of the nectar. Bees work them readily and are not the intended pollinator — the pollen is presented too openly for efficient bee transfer.

Completely open stamens with nectar at the base — accessible to birds, bees and almost every other flower visitor.

Worth knowing

An excellent nectar and pollen source with pollen presented openly on exposed stamens.

Flowering

In flower

October to January (southern hemisphere)

A spring to summer flow, and many cultivars flower more than once a year.

When nectar flows

Generous. Brush flowers hold substantial nectar because they evolved to attract birds.

Year-to-year variation

Reliable where plantings are extensive, and a genuine urban resource in Australian cities.

What it does to the honey

Contributes a malty resinous depth with a faint medicinal lift — considerably more assertive than the shrub's cheerful appearance suggests.

Growing it

Conditions

Full sun on moist to well-drained soil, and tolerant of periodic waterlogging since it grows naturally along watercourses. Frost-tender in cool climates.

Size

2-6 m tall, and kept far smaller by pruning.

Native range

Eastern Australia, along watercourses and in damp forest. Planted worldwide in warm climates.

Suits

Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes, Hedgerow

• Prune immediately after flowering, cutting behind the spent brushes, to keep it dense and flowering well.
• Tolerates wet feet better than most shrubs, which suits it to a rain garden.
• In cool temperate climates it needs a warm wall or a container that can be moved under cover.

What it looks like

A dense shrub with narrow stiff leaves and cylindrical brushes of brilliant crimson flowers, the colour coming entirely from long exposed stamens rather than from petals.