Calothamnus quadrifidus Grey Form

Calothamnus quadrifidus Grey Form or Grey Leaf is, as its name suggests, a beautiful form with grey and fluffy foliage of an original Australian shrub. Its silhouette and delicate foliage resemble a conifer, while its red spike-like flowering betrays its relationship with callistemons. It spreads over a long summer period, taking the form of numerous feathery flowers gathered in spikes on one side of the branches. It is a tender plant but does rather well in any slightly acidic to calcareous soil that is properly drained. Magnificent in the ground in the most sheltered gardens, it also grows in a large pot to overwinter everywhere else.

Calothamnus quadrifidus 'Grey Leaf' is an evergreen shrub of the myrtle family, related to Callistemons, myrtles, and Melaleuca. The typical species, with greener foliage, grows spontaneously in the open forests of southwestern Australia, on sandy or rocky, clay-limestone soils, or on granite outcrops. Its region of origin is subject to a Mediterranean-type climate: dry and hot in summer; very mild and humid in winter.  When mature, it is hardy down to a minimum of -4 °C ( 24.8 °F).

The 'Grey Form' Calothamnus is a beautiful bushy and rounded, well-branched shrub. It grows rapidly, reaching about 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in all directions in the ground, but much less if grown in a pot. The branches are adorned with simple leaves, in the shape of rounded section needles, not exceeding 4 cm (1.6 in) in length, that are arranged alternately and aromatic when crushed. They are covered with numerous white hairs that give them a pretty silver-grey colour. Flowering occurs from May-June to August-September. The tiny flowers have prominent stamens of a very bright red and are fused into very decorative bundles, called staminal claws. They are produced in the axils of the leaves on one side of the one or two-year-old branches. Together, they form a spike about twenty centimetres (7.9 inches) long. This flowering, honey and nectar-bearing, attracts many pollinating insects to the garden. The fruit is a very hard globular capsule. It will retain the small seeds for many years. It is often intense heat that will cause the capsules to burst. This characteristic reflects a perfect adaptation to regions regularly subjected to fires.

Calothamnus quadrifidus Grey Leaf is an extraordinary southern plant with the appearance of a grey conifer, with long-lasting scarlet flowers in summer. With a little care and sheltered from the cold, it becomes an interesting subject to place alone in the centre of a mass of low-growing or creeping plants in a coastal garden. To accompany it, one can choose, for example, creeping rosemary, small-sized cistus (Cistus x pulverulentus, Cistus x skanbergii), Convolvulus cneorum, Nepeta x faassenii, etc. In a free hedge, it can be combined with Grevillea, Caesalpinia gillesii, Leptospermum, Melaleuca, etc. It can also be associated with a white or yellow oleander, Chilean mimosa, or  Cassia corymbosa. Its good tolerance to salt allows for coastal exposure, facing wind and spray.