Callistemon - "Little princess"

[Luke308]

Hi guys and girls,

Well I went to Raywood nursery today, which is where a number of cultivars have been discovered over the years, most notably the "Raywood ash" more commonly known as the claret ash. Anyway, I came across a callistemon that had been discovered by them, and I was wondering if anyone has heard of it before? It is known as "Little Princess" which is apparently a cross between callistemon regulosa and red bloom ( I think that is what he said) Anyway it grows to only 50cm tall, that's right, only half a metre!! And has small red flowers which fade to pink. He showed me the original specimen which is approx 20yrs old and has a great fat tapering trunk on it (If only I could've dug that up). I bought 2 examples which are from cuttings and only in tube stock containers. I have since slip-potted them into 6inch pots. I am curious if anyone has heard of or seen these before?? I will post pics during the week when it is a bit sunnier.
Cheers,
Luke

[Joel]

Hi Luke,

I have seen them for sale up Sydney at Ray Nesci's. They are tiny! Their foliage looks more like a large leafed Leptospermum than a Callistemon. I purchased one years ago and then left it at a mates place. When I called a week later he said he didn't have it. (I am fairly sure he didn't water it and felt embarrassed about killing it!) At least it was only a young stock plant.

Sorry I can't provide more info than that.

Joel

[Luke308]

Sorry for the delay, but here are the pics I promised I have another one also, but I think this one is the best. I could almost give him a quick hair-cut wire some shape and put him in a bonsai pot. Come to think of it, I have a small blue glazed rectangular pot that is approx 50mm across, I might just try that. Any thoughts or recommendations?

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[alpineart]

Hi Luke308 , it looks like a nice little specimen . Most likely a slow grower so i would be in a hurry to rip into it , that terrible word time . Give it time and you will see , the little tree inside of thee .

Cheers Alpineart

[Steve Warren]

I have a very similar little specimen sold as" Callistemon Little John ", quite common in nurseries around here. Bark, foliage look exactly the same. My "Little John" only flowers red, yours is more likely a variation that flowers to pink - hence the princess. They do appear to be fairly slow growers.

Regards

Steve W

[Steve Warren]

after looking at your pics again, i just realized how much smaller your tree is compared to my "Little John". I think I might have to find me one of these even smaller Callistemons.

Steve W

[Luke308]

I got this from Raywood nursery at deep creek South Australia. Being this cultivar was discovered by them I doubt they would be too common, but then again I have been wrong many times before. It might pay to give him a call and see if they do postage?? The owner (Quentin I think) was very helpful, and knew his stuff very well. http://www.raywood.com.au/
Little Johns are quite common here, even the big B sell them
Good luck with your quest for a smaller callistemon

[Steve Warren]

Thank you for the link Luke,

Regards

Steve W