Purple smokebush varieties refer to the foliage, not the blossoms. There is nothing purplish about the above pictured smokebush.

Hey guys. My experice as a gardner is VERY limted. As a matter of fact this is my 1st season of having a yard of any kind, but maybe this will make my experience more valuable. I am in Phoenix, by South Mountain. My soil is clay 6" on top of caliche. All planting but 4 mature plants are new as of late april. Here is what have not died SO FAR YET!! Lantana yellow and purple. Yellow blooming nicely time after time. Purple one is smaller and does not bloom as much but seesm to be hanging in there just fine. Honeysuckle (Mexican/Cape? not sure). One in the afteroon shade is HUGE and doing great but not blooming. 2 in the sun are smaller and some leaves are browned and burnet but it has nice new growth and blooming for some strangest reason in the world. Mesquite tree. Doing fine. It lost all the leaves and some branches dried out, but seems like it rebounded fine and putting out new growth just fine. Boxwood beauty. In the afternoon shade. Doing fine. Growing little by little. Can not find much info about care for this plant. Aloe. $3 tiny thing from IKEA. It was barely visible from the gravel. Afternoon shade. Grew up nicely and now about 12" or more and putting out new leaves. Oleander bush. Afternoon shade. Was blooming. Not anymore, but seems to be in fine shape, however not growing visibly. Pink Baja Fairyduster. Has some yellow leaves but also has new growth. Seemingly doing allright. Penstimon of some kind. Looked almost dead for like 2 month. But now it decided to come to life and put out a bunch of new leaves. So, i suppose its not bad. Desert prikly pear cactus. A bit whilted but seems ok. Purple prickly pear. Mostly lost its purpleness and somewhat whilted but seems allright. Ocotillo. Well..... Hummm........ Its ocotillo LOL Thorny twigs sticking from the ground. But seems like they are greenich in color under its bark and not brittle. So, i suppose they are Ok. Agave Americana. Somewhat dried up and not too great but probably will be OK. Ok, now for stuff that did not make it. Its 2 kinds of plants so far - Ice Plant fell 1st then Uonimous(?). Both in the full sun. Do not think they liked that. My Lemon tree looks pretty sorry with whilted yellowing leaves. Also, my 3 Italian Cypreses seem quite hanging there by a thin tread. erdict on those is to be determined. My mature trees (2 mesquites and polo verde) are doing just fine. Polo does not even get any water as irrigation does not extend that far, but it does not seem to mind too much. My mature agave of some kind, its in the shade, doing super good and putting out new babies. That is about all. I water shrubes every 2nd day and trees 1s a week. Cacti get water as i think they needed it. Eugene

Linda, they are two slightly different species. The C. eriophylla is hardier than the californica. The eriophylla is hardy to the mid teens is grows between 1,000-5,000 feet while the Californica is native to Baja California which doesn't get as cold. The common names are usually the source of confusion. I don't know which species we are talking about, but we got both of them covered now. Hope that helps Here is a link that might be useful: Calliandra eriophylla

send me an e-mail at lkisser@comcast.net (first letter is an "L". I have this pattern