While we prefer to recommend California native plants whenever possible, Dwarf bottlebrush is a popular choice for Mediterranean style gardens that may receive more water than many California native plants prefer. Hummingbirds will visit the blooms for nectar. Depending on the situation, a few California native plants to consider using instead of Little John bottlebrush include Eve Case coffeeberry, white sage, Santa Rosa island buckwheat, brittlebush, chuparosa, and creeping barberry.
Little John bottlebrush is a compact evergreen shrub with pale bluish-green leaves and dark scarlet-red flowers. This is a slow to moderate growing cultivar with a mounding form, slowly growing 4-5 ft. tall and as wide after several years.
This bottlebrush cultivar has become one of the most popular and commonly used compact plants in the Inland Empire. It is sometimes used as a small clipped hedge. It attracts large numbers of honey bees when in bloom.
