Bottle Brush – No Flowers; Reddish Leaves And Seeds Be Pruned?

Question

My bottle brushes are growing nicely but not flowering after extremely cold few days and then extremely hot Summer of 2023. I’m in Houston, a lot of sun, used Holly-Tone fertilizer, watering a couple of times per week, not sure what else to do to get flowers back… Also it produces branches with reddish leaves and seeds (see the picture) – should I trim those?

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Answer 1

Seed pods would indicate that there was, at least, some flowering happening. Now will not be the time to prune, though. I'd do that in summer. That light growth, and the flowering issue looks to be related to overfertilization. Mainly, nitrogen. This will cause vigorous growth but very few flowers. Testing your soil will give you a good idea of any deficiencies or excess of nutrients. Pruning should be done in spring or summer and not at this time.

Here are some articles that may help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/testing-soil.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/bottlebrush/bottlebrush-wont-bloom.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/bottlebrush/pruning-bottlebrush-plants.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/shrubs/bottlebrush/growing-bottlebrush-plants.htm