PlantFiles: Red Powder Puff
Calliandra haematocephala

Calliandra haematocephala is a sub-tropical plant the family of which is native to the India, Mexico, Madagascar, South America and the United States. It is adaptable, but prefers moist, well-drained, fertile soil. Does best with moderate humidity. This species is grown as a hedge or shrub in the landscape for its powder-puff-type flowers. Very attractive to bees and butterflies.

There´s a Red Power Puff near here that blooms constantly during the year. However, it never gets covered with flowers like other species. The folliage gives it a more smooth look than other Calliandras.

Our Calliandra in So Cal (dry climate of E of San Diego) blooms best in winter (November till April) and at that time is really covered both with blooms and their less pretty spent brown dry remnants. Hummingbirds love it and it is fun to watch them feed (I am posting a photo of one). If Calliandra does best in humidity, it has clearly shifted its blooming time here to the wettest period since during the dry hot summer and fall it does not bloom at all (I see the difference from Florida humid tropical climate). Calliandra is rapidly growing and needs pruning to keep in check.

Plant responds with lots of blooms following a good watering. However, my dogs love to eat the powder puffs and my plants don't have flowers on them for long! (FYI...They've been eating them for a year and have never had a bad reaction.)

My row of shrubs, in the ground many years, has been sheared annually into a 6' hedge after the winter bloom period is over. Planted in a dry area on the side of my house, they are truly drought tolerant, subsisting on rain water only, which in coastal San Diego averages 11 inches per year between November and April. The plentiful watermelon red blooms are charming; the new growth a lovely bronze with a graceful arching form.

In my borderline Zone 8b/9a climate in NE Fla, this Calliandra dies back in winter with freezing temperatures, but rebounds in the Spring and begins to bloom around May.

If you have this plant and live in a climate where it freezes, don't be too quick to prune back what looks like brown, dead, leafless stems. Leaves and flowers will emerge most of the way up the stems in the Springtime. I think it is best to wait until the flowers appear to determine what part of the plant is truly lifeless.

This is a great plant, it is tough and bug resistant and very attractive.
It is so attractive that the butterflys and hummingbirds are flitting about its puff. Some seeds have sprouted that fell and germinated under the plant, I transplanted them into potting soil and they are doing great. I am planning to try different methods of propagation to see which will be the best.

Hubby & I went to Butterfly World this last weekend & it was consistently frequented by colorful finches & butterflies.