Pink Powder Puff

Pink Powder Puff (Calliandra haematocephala 'Pink') is the fast tropical shrub that flowers when little else in a warm garden does. It grows to about 3m tall and 3m wide, covered through autumn, winter and into spring with silky pink pom poms the size of a golf ball. Prune it and it holds at 2m as a flowering hedge, which is how most gardeners use it.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers through the quiet months. The powder puff blooms carry from autumn into spring in warm gardens, filling the gap when most tropical shrubs have stopped.
• Fast to screen. Growth is quick, so a small plant covers a fence line in two or three seasons rather than five.
• Birds and butterflies. The nectar rich flowers pull honeyeaters and butterflies, and the fine ferny foliage gives small birds cover.
• It takes a hard prune. Cut it back and it reshoots willingly, so it works as a 3m shrub, a 2m hedge or a small multi trunked tree.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1.5m apart for a dense screen. At that spacing the plants close in two seasons, and one trim after flowering holds the face at 2m.

Poolside. The foliage is fine and the plant does not shed heavily, so it screens a pool fence without filling the water. The flowers do drop, so allow for a light sweep.

Feature planting. Grown as a single specimen and limbed up, it makes a spreading small tree with the flowers held out along the branches at eye level.

Growing Pink Powder Puff in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the heaviest flowering. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant and it is frost tender, so cool inland, tableland and cold southern gardens are unsuitable unless you can offer a warm protected wall.

Soil. Free draining soil with organic matter worked through it. Type matters less than drainage, and it is drought tolerant once established, though flowering improves with steady moisture.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper to dry spells only. Feed a complete slow release fertiliser in early spring and again in mid summer, and mulch 75mm deep, clear of the trunk.

Pruning. Prune straight after the main flowering finishes, taking it back by up to a third. It responds well to hard pruning and reshoots from old wood, which is what keeps it dense rather than open and twiggy.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown as tube stock and in 200mm packs of six. Both are young plants, which suits a shrub this fast: tube stock planted in spring in a warm garden is usually well over a metre by the following autumn. The packs of six are the practical choice for a hedge run.

Expect a quiet fortnight after planting, then strong growth once the roots move. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare hedging and screening plants
• Plants for poolside gardens
• Browse bird attracting plants
• Designing a tropical garden that stays lush

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Any closer crowds the plants and creates humid dead wood through the middle of the hedge.

Will it survive frost?

No. It is frost tender and a real frost will damage the growth badly. Keep it to tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens.

How fast does it grow?

Fast. In a warm garden with water and feed, expect around a metre of growth a year for the first few seasons, slowing as it nears its 3m ceiling.

Can I keep it at 2m?

Yes. One hard prune a year straight after flowering holds it at 2m and keeps it dense right down to the base.