Calliandra (Calliandra haematocephala) is popular and attractive garden plant grown for it’s beautiful powder puff flowers BUT did you know that Calliandra is so much more than it’s good looks? The Common Powder Puff plant is fabulous in a permaculture system. Aside from being an attractive screen plant it is super useful too. It’s a legume, a pioneer plant, chop & drop mulch , extra materials for your compost, and fodder for permaculture animals.

I talked about this wonderful plant in one of my Daily Live at 5 videos. Check out the video below:

Calliandra is:

1. a fast growing legume
2. a fabulous chop and drop mulch
3. an excellent food forest shade plant
4. a useful hedge or screen plant – coppices well
5. a pioneer plant in a permaculture food forest – helping to get the systems started 
6. excellent fuelwood for small fires
7. used for intercrop hedgerows in agroforesty systems
8. valuable supplement forage for ruminant livestock
9. an accessible source of leaf meal protein for laying hens – pods are also high protein
10. useful in land rehabilitation
11. an excellent erosion control plant
12. a green manure
13. a pollen source for honey production
14. attractive to butterflies and birds too (flowers)
15. a host for lac insect (Laccifer lacca) for shellac production

Calliandra is a hardy plant that grows well in warm-humid climates. It can withstand dry conditions, although may become semi-deciduous if the dry season is extensive. It grows 3-5 metres, but can be hedged. 

It is easily propagated by stem cuttings or seeds. Once you have one plant, you can keep making more, and sharing them widely.

It was originally from the humid and sub-humid regions of Central America and Mexico.

There are many varieties of Calliandra. The main variety recommended for agroforestry is Calliandra calothyrsus but the values of the common garden plant, Calliandra haematocephala, are also very high.

Happy gardening. Feel free to share this post.

What is permaculture?

To learn more about permaculture take a look at Our Permaculture Life youtube channel where I have uploaded over 200 films from my permaculture garden and in conversation with others.  Dive deeper into this blog too and you will find over 400 permaculture articles.

Now is such a great time to learn more about permaculture and consider making permaculture your way of life and livelihood too. To help with this, I offer two online permaculture courses:

• Permaculture Educators Program – Permaculture Design & Teaching Certificates
• The Incredible Edible Garden – permaculture gardening course

I also encourage you to support free permaculture education programs for women and youth in the global south through our registered permaculture charity, the Ethos Foundation.