AusBonsai

Found this amongst the stones in my garden 5 months ago, liked the bend and curve, was a little bit stunted and only about 3 inches tall. It has doubled in size. Any idea of what callistemon it is.. .

Hello Hawkeyes,

Looks more like a healthy Grevillea to me.
Hard to tell the species, are there any Grevilleas close by?

Kevin

Yes, on the other side of the yard. A giant weeping red bottlebrush . I thought the leaves looked different.

Sorry Hawkeyes, definitely not a Callistemon, I'm going with Kevin on this, looks like a Grevillea.
Watty

Firewheel tree me thinks.

hmmm... could be stenocarpus, the firewheel tree. I think it's too glossy to be a grevillea...

Looking at both suggestions, I think my poor little "Survivor" could be a Grevillea. I call it Survivor as it pushed it's way through the pebbles to come through. Until it stood up and said I'm here, I saved it. LOL. It now sits with my other bonsai in it's little colander. Long wait for a flower though, to identify it.

Definitely something from the Proteacea family, although it looks a bit bushy for a small Stenocarpus sinuatus. They usually want to grow straight up and don't branch very well when young. There are a few rainforest Proteceae that would grow well in Brisbane. The leaves would also change as the tree matures so the parent tree might look a bit different, but the seeds wouldn't travel far.