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Callistemon ‘Candy Pink’ is a medium to tall shrub that may reach a height of 4 metres with a spread of 3 metres.
Callistemon ‘Candy Pink’ is said to be one of the many cultivars of C. citrinus.
It has lanceolate leaves and produces pink new growth.
In Callistemon species, flowers are usually arranged in spikes (the “bottlebrush”) which are produced at the terminals but which the stem then grows past, into a leafy shoot. Flowers have five small circular sepals and five circular petals which persist on the flowers.
Like many other Myrtaceae genera, the flowers are conspicuously staminate with each flower having many stamens surrounding one carpel. The stamens are typically free although may be fused at the basal parts (a generally useful identifying feature for the genus to distinguish it from Melaleuca). The pedicels of the flowers are very short. In this cultivar, the inflorescences are long and narrow; pinkish-red fading to pink. There are usually several flowering flushes each year.
This is a popular bottlebrush cultivar which is hardy and reliable. It is reported to tolerate a range of soils. It is advised to prune plants back to the semi-hardwood to encourage a denser plant with moe blooms the following year. It can tolerate poor drainage as well as cold areas.
Author’s notes: In our cold climate garden we prune our specimens after flowering and keep plants to a compact 3-metre height. Plants over this size tend to be rather straggly with few flowers. These plants have dense foliage and bloom bounteously, if kept well pruned and compact. As with all Callistemons, grow in full sun or minimum shade for maximum flowering.
It can flower most of the year.
Cultivars much be propagated by cuttings to maintain true-to-type forms.
The genus Callistemon has been subject to recent taxonomic revision with early and recent botanists including Ferdinand von Mueller and Lyndley Craven (deceased in 2014) proposing to ‘lump’ the genus into Melaleuca and others. Craven et al. (2014) published new species combinations which included the renaming of all Callistemon species to Melaleuca, based on evolutionary relationships and DNA evidence and other features.
Currently, the NSW Herbarium advises that the Callistemon genus can still be used. There are currently about 30 species of Callistemon, which are found in all states of Australia as well as New Caledonia. About 28 are endemic to Australia. NSW currently recognises 24 species. New species have been described in the last 20 years.
Callistemon – From the Ancient Greek – Callos (κάλλος) – meaning “beautiful” (which is changed to κάλλη to describe a noun) and and stêma (στῆμα) meaning “stamen”, referring to the very showy staminate flowers of the bottle-brush inflorescences.
‘Candy Pink’ – referring to the colour of the inflorescences.
Gardening with Angus – Callistemon ‘Candy Pink’ profile page https://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/callistemon-candy-pink-bottlebrush/
Wrigley, J.W. & Fagg, M.I. (2001). Australian Native Plants – Propagation, cultivation and use in landscaping. 4th edition. New Holland Publishers, Pty. Ltd. Australia.