This video blog is about the Bottlebrush shrub (sometimes called Little John), but the botanical name is “Callistemon”. The best way to describe this shrub is small to medium sized with thick dense dark green foliage with pretty small red blooms that look like little bottlebrushes. 

They get about 2-3 feet tall but some variety can get up to 4-6 feet in height and there is even a tree version of this shrub that gets really large.  It’s a thornless shrub that stays green all year with low shedding with blooming throughout the year but most during spring and fall months. 

It can freeze under 30 degrees but that is rare here in our desert climate.  It requires moderate watering during the growing months, even watering daily when we hit over 100 degrees (see recommended watering schedule at azlawns.com/watering)  Keeping the soil dry is also key between watering and this shrub is native to Australia.  This shrub is non toxic but can cause some skin irritation when handling the leaves and may cause an allergic reaction (see link)