British Columbia: Yellow Mimosa on Vancouver Island?

I was wondering if I could grow the Yellow Mimosa on Vancouver Island (Nanaimo). We saw these magnificent plants in Florence and the South of France a few winters ago, and were impressed with their showy flowers and fragrance.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acacia_dealbata for more details on this plant.

If it's a go, who stocks these plants?

 

I think the area where you live is USDA zone 8. If that is the case, you might have periods of low temperatures that may make it a bit difficult for mimosa to survive since zoning is based on an average of temperatures.

My sister lives near La Rochelle, which is in zone 9, by the sea. There are plenty of mimosa there, and last winter, almost of of them died because of a few unusually cold nights. They started again from the base though.

And the people next door planted one last year, they wrapped it up in a protection "cloth" (whatever you call it ;) ). This summer, they have a patch of bamboo where it used to be... We are in zone 8.

 

Hello

acacia is often sold at Brentwood Bay nurseries in Saanich just along the coast from you

http://www.brentwoodbaynurseries.com/trees.php

don't know if they have the yellow one

 

If you're talking about the genus Acacia they pretty much all have yellow flowers.

And are tender. In our region these should always be given a warm wall and used only where removal of a dead top of some size would not be an unusual bother.

If you are talking about false acacia, as in the genus Robinia then that is a different plant.

 

I think you are going to have a hard time with Mimosa (Acacia dealbata - I believe). I looked for them in France last year & only saw a few of them in the South not too far away from the Med. Online info. suggests that they die back occasionally even there. I just love the things - some romantic association that is lost in the recesses of my brain I expect; also the sensitive leaves -I just love torturing them.

I tried to grow one in a pot I took in, in the winter, when I was young & optimistic. Never sized-up, never flowered. Just languished & died. As I recall they were one of the specialty items (like Venus flytraps, Lithops & those dreadful cacti with orange tops) that got left by the cash register to ensnare gullible types like me, about 40 years ago.

A good greenhouse for the winter & a large pot in the sun might work. I hope it does.

gb.

 

Hmm? I have been ruminating & think that I am confusing the classic Mimosa trees of France with the "sensitive plant" & it's collapsing leaves.

Can anyone sort me out with proper genus/species on these two, please?

gb

 

Sensitive plant is Mimosa pudica, all the others something else. The French trees might be an Acacia or they might be Albizia julibrissin, which is called mimosa tree in the US.

 

The French Mimosa seen in the south of the country is definitely "Acacia dealbata", which is an invasive species there, menacing local flora. But it's very fragrant, yes.

Robinia (which is a hardy tree) is quite different : white flowers, and much larger leaves (we would take the leaflets and use them as confetti when I was a kid). I think once you've seen them "in real life", it's had to take one for the other.

Mimosa pudica is easy to grow from seeds ansd has pink-mauve flowers ans is most of the time cultivated here as an annual plant. I used to grow them for my kids (good alibi...), but it's difficult to keep over the winter unless you have a heated greenhouse with a high rate of humidity, the atmosphere indoors is too dry and they don't get enough light.

Albizzia is never call "Mimosa" here.

 

...pop! There goes another romantic idea. The feted, celebrated, Mimosa of Southern France is an invasive alien. The trees even have a drink named after them - of course that seems to have originated in Paris & probably does not meet with approval in the South.

Thanks for the clarification alainK.

gb