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Chamelaucium 'My Sweet Sixteen' (Bicolored Waxflower) - This evergreen shrub grows to 5-6 feet tall by as wide or wider with light green needle-like foliage that densely clothes the stems. In early to mid-spring (March-May) appear the dense clusters of small to medium-sized single white wax flowers that mature rapidly to red-purple, giving the bloom a bi-colored look.
Plant in full sun in a well-drained soil. Needs very little irrigation and is cold hardy to 25-30 degrees F. It responds well to pruning and is very nice for flower arrangements.
Chamelaucium is a genus from southwestern Western Australia. The name for the genus is thought to come from the Greek words 'chamai' meaning "dwarf" and 'leucos' meaning "white", though the reasoning for this is unknown. Another possibility suggested is that the name is derived from the Latin word 'camelaucum' which was the name used for the headgear of medieval Popes. One would have to have a crystal ball to ask the French botanist René Louiche Desfontaines what he meant when he first ascribed the name in 1819.
Chamelaucium 'My Sweet Sixteen' is from the cross of Chamelaucium uncinatum 'Snowflake' (seed parent) with Chamelaucium axillare (pollen parent) by Brian Jack at Western Flora, Coorow, Western Australia in 1993. The cross resulted in 5 embryos that were rescued and germinated in vitro. 'My Sweet Sixteen' was selected from the resulting plants for its stability, uniform habit, rich green leaves, flower density and flower color and flowering time. This plant was first sold in Australia in August 1998. We first started selling this plant this plant in 2005 from plants received from Obaverde Growers and we continued to grow it until 2025 when we closed the nursery.
Information displayed on this page about Chamelaucium 'My Sweet Sixteen' is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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