That is just beautiful! Amazing how things grow so big!The wonders of Mother Nature!!
How many years did it take to get that tall?
Are you in zone 9? I don't think that would grow here in zone 4.

We bought a small tree almost 20 years ago. So they do take their time in growing. Of course it hasn't been watered for over 15 years so that might also be a reason for slow growth. They are drought tolerant once established. In places where they are watered constantly, like in a lawn, they are super huge.

I don't think drought would be the problem. How cold tolerant are they?
We get temps as low as -25 but had over 100 inches of snow last winter. The snow helped to insulate a lot of things. I think I have seen this for sale as a house plant here.

Really nice picture of the mimosa tree. I live in zone 5 in Maine, and have several mimosas planted in the yard, but they do get alot of die-back in the winter, so I don't really think they'll ever bloom--they just come back really strong in the summer with 4-5 foot branches. However, I do have one in a large tub which is about to bloom, it's covered with flower buds now and should be blooming in a few more days. I keep the tree in the garage through the winter and bundle up the tub with an old quilt. The garage never gets below 5 degrees, so the tree survives with no problem, however, when the temps outside start to go near or below zero, I have to put a couple jugs of warm water under the quilt every day to keep the soil from freezing, but it's not that much trouble and it's really worth it to have such a tropical-looking plant in the garden. Oh, it also blooms for almost 2 months.

Dave - that is dedication! I also grow some really tropical plants that I have to baby a little but I don't know if I would do that much work. Good luck with your trees. The flowers are so pretty.

I take them for granted 'round here, they sprout like weeds. I should save one.

We have these all over the Southeast and most people do not want them in their yards. When the blooms die and it rains they get all messy and slick. They look ugly on the grass. I actually love them but dont have one. I grew up with them all along the fence line and played in them most of the summers. Used to pull the seed pods and pretend to be cooking beans. Brings back good memories to see the photos. The blooms are beautiful, we would throw them in the air and as they twirled down would pretend they were fairies.

There are a few of these trees in my neck of the woods (er, city). When they are in bloom, they are Show Stoppers!! Ohters parts of the year they are very sad looking though. I love the flowers!

~Rosemarie

Over the hill in San Jose they are used as landscape trees in a lot of business areas. They grow quite large and as some stated, quite a messy tree especially on lawns. Since it is growing in an open field here, it doesn't matter how messy it is. I guess it depends on where you are at whether a plant is a pain or a treasure. I still love it especially since the hummingbirds goes nuts over it.

I know they are considered "weed trees" in a lot of places, and I don't think I'd want one in my yard, but where I live there are some truly stunning large specimens growing here and there. Hmm - I ought to break out the camera on some of my trips to town...

I just brought a 4 inch seedling home from Ohio where I spent a week with our youth group helping some elderly people do maintenance projects on their home. Our "hosts" 91 year old Bernie and his lovely, mid-80's wife Daisy live in the log cabin he built by hand (hatchet marks in each log!) on 43 beautiful wooded acres with a pond overlooked by their front sitting porch. They have a beautiful mimosa tree growing out back that hangs over their roof with about a dozen hummingbirds constantly buzzing around. Daisy shared the seedling, and will be sending me seeds of her wildflowers "when they ripen". She outfits her whole garden with cuttings, seed starts and wild things from the woods. It was such an inspiration for me, who spends way too much on every new plant I lust after!

Wish me luck with my mimosa baby!

Cathgreen - Good luck with your seedling. If it doesn't make it, contact me in the fall and I will send you some seeds. Hope you took pictures, that place sounds beautiful.

flowergirl - I hope to get more pictures especially of the hummingbirds and the flowers. Good luck with your pictures.