Native Plants
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Monday - August 09, 2010
From: Levittown, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Non-native chocolate mimosa in Levittown NY
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I purchased about 2 ft chocolate mimosa tree in early June of this year from a local nursery located in Nassau County, New York. It was doing in our Long Island soil just fine for over a month, I would water it properly. Some time in the 3rd week of July it started dropping its beautiful leaves, though they would not lose their color, not dry out or brown. Now it has no leaves left at all. It has been a very hot summer hear in New York this year, I absolutely doubt that I was stingy on water. I added the MiracleGro to its soil, water even more. I noticed some growth of (buds or suckers) appearing on the trunk now. Is there any hope it will come back to life? There are some other flowers in that spot near its root ball that are blooming without any problem which indicates there is enough water.ANSWER:
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the care and propagation of plants native to North America. Albizia julibrissin (mimosa, silk tree) is a native of Asia from Iran east to China and Korea. Cultivar "Chocolate Mimosa" was developed in Japan and begun recently being imported into the United States. Not only is the mimosa a non-native, but it is on many invasives list; that is, native plant people not only don't recommend you plant it, they recommend you remove it if you've already planted it. See this website from the Plant Conservation Alliance on "Least Wanted" mimosa.More Non-Natives Questions
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Problems with non-native Chocolate Mimosa from Dallas
June 15, 2011 - I have a Chocolate Mimosa I planted last spring. It came back strong this spring but suddenly the leafs have started turning brown and falling off, it gets watered every morning and I don't have a c...
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Non-native Callistemon damaged by freeze in Katy TX
March 30, 2010 - O.K. Smarty pants, Callistemon bought here in Houston Texas froze and will they recover after the freeze? The huge tree is totally brown and about five years old. Do we cut them back or do the leaves ...
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