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Fiery ,summer shrub

Beaufortia squarrosa. Picture: Dave Blumer

Even though it’s hot as Hades, there is quite a bit of colour about the garden.

Flowering at the moment is the blow-your-eyeballs-out beaufortias or sand bottlebrush. A deceptive name really because it's not a bottlebrush at all.

Beaufortias grow in a wide range of soils from Kalbarri to Albany. There are about 22 different species in WA but unfortunately only about six varieties are readily available.

Beaufortia squarrosa is the sort of plant that causes overseas visitors to get heart palpitations. The flower colour is almost iridescent reddish orange; the whole bush is illuminated on the tips. B. squarrosa is also available in an orange and yellow form. These grow to about 1.5m in height and 60cm wide and flower from January through to May.

Beaufortia aestiva Summer Flame has bright red flowers and flowers heavily throughout summer. It grows to a 1m shrub. Beaufortia purpure has red/crimson flowers, and grows to 1m x 1m and flowers from October through to December.

For something a bit different, Beaufortia orbifolia, also known as the Ravensthorpe bottlebrush, has bi-coloured flowers with a lime-green centre and red outer. It has a more open habit and grows to 1.5x1.2m.

All beaufortias respond well to light pruning at the end of their flowering.

Beaufortias are great shrubs to use as a small screen plant or for underplanting large gum trees, and birds as well as bees just love them. Apply a native slow-release fertiliser in spring and at the beginning of the winter rains to improve flowering.