Taipei City's powder puff flowers are in full bloom, like silent summer fireworks

As the season moves into spring and summer, although the troublesome pandemic has filled society with a tense atmosphere, nature still follows its own rhythm and presents a scene of blooming flowers, completely unaffected by the pandemic. Native to Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala and other regions, the powder puff flower, which blooms like one brilliant firework after another, is now attracting visitors' attention. It is currently in full bloom in Dahu Park, the Shilin Official Residence and Daan Forest Park, waiting for you to come and see it!

The powder puff flower is a deciduous tree or small tree of the Fabaceae family (Mimosoideae), also known as the American silk tree or red silk tree. Its most distinctive feature is that more than ten to over twenty flowers form a single head-like inflorescence. When the flowers open, most of the stamens have long, prominent filaments that gather into a round fan shape, just like the powder puff a woman uses for makeup, hence the name powder puff flower.

Lin Chih-feng, Director of the Taipei City Public Works Department, said that the powder puff flower is suitable for planting in sunny locations with good drainage. The higher the temperature, the better it blooms, making it a landscape flowering tree or shrub suited to growing in high-temperature summer climates. It loses its leaves when winter temperatures are low. Applying fertilizer as appropriate when growth begins in spring can promote growth. During dry summers, water more to keep the soil moist. Its flower colors are brilliant and varied, and with simple management it can grow and bloom well, making it a very beautiful and easy-to-manage ornamental flowering plant.

The beauty of the powder puff flower lies in its brilliantly colorful blooms. It can be planted in parks, green spaces, garden landscapes and as potted plants, and can also be pruned for use as a hedge, giving it a wide range of uses. This summer, if you come to Taipei City's Dahu Park, the Shilin Official Residence and Daan Forest Park for an outing, please make a detour to seek out a silent summer fireworks feast. When you see it with your own eyes, the surging passion that rises in your heart will be no less than that of real fireworks!