Metrosideros excelsus is a great tree or shrub solution for a privacy screen. It grows very quickly and features beautiful, crimson, brush-like flowers that attract hummingbirds and bees and appear in fall. It is relatively deer-proof and drought resistant. The opaque-colored grayish leaves make the surrounding foliage of the other plants really pop. With a spreading, dome-like form, it is able to thrive in poor rocky soil and steep grades. Available in both a ‘standard’ and multi-trunked spreading tree form, it works well in salt air along the coast and on the SF Peninsula.