My mother in law had one which had grown up through her arbor by about two feet. After her death I pruned the bottle brush way down to replace the damage to the arbor. The plant became fuller and much better behaved. We have one here that was planted about 30 years before the killing frost of 1990 that killed it to the ground. It took two years to reappear but quickly grew back to its former size. I have not noticed anything delicate about Callistemon. Al

I have heard that all kinds of ants go after the honeydew left by other insects. But I've never heard of ants actually damaging blooms. I hope the spray solves your bug problems. Debra

Hi, Looks like the plant has an infestation of what is known as "soft" scale - a sap sucking pest which can disfigure leaves. It is usually found on both leaves and stems. Note that plants under some sort of stress are more prone to these pests particularly if they are growing in shade. The recommended control these days is to use one of the "eco" oils or Pest Oil. Try one of those first after reading the manufacturers instructions. If that fails, I'd think about buying a systemic insecticide such as Confidor (spray or tablets) and giving that a go. Wouldn't hurt to give the plant a little fertilizer about now as well - something suitable for bottlebrushes. Regards, Ted

I am looking into this myself for my plants and will also be posting about it... I believe it is a fungal infection called Early Blight... If so the only way to " get rid of it", if you lucky, is to remove all infected plant tissue. This includes leaves and stems...make sure none have fallen and are on the soil etc. After that, pray it slows so that you can get some tomatoes before it takes the plant. What at I have read about it is that it stays in the soil...don't use the same soil or pot for next years tomatoes. Again I am not confident but that's what I believe it is.