Geoff Stonebanks' Driftwood garden diary

A favourite plant in my garden at this time of the year is the white bottlebrush, or Callistemon. It is an attractive evergreen shrub, native to Australia. They have become popular in Europe because of the spectacular flowers in axillary spikes, which look like bottle brushes. In colder areas they can be grown in pots, kept under cover in winter, giving plenty of water during the flowering period, little in winter. They require moist, well-drained soil and withstand pruning and drought. Mine was