I almost fainted!!!

At the local garden center last night, just minding my own business, not misbehaving any more than usual, everything was good, when all of a sudden I went into a huge freakout...they have a bunch of little trees that just plain took my breath away, they are Albizia Julibrissin "summer chocolate" YOW!!! they are amazing, (they were calling them "chocolate silk mimosa") my DD had to run away and pretend she wasn't with me because she was embarrassed by all my oooohing and swooning and happy dancing...I couldn't help it, wow-weeee!!!! of course they were priced at $90, ouch!!!

I can't find much on the internet about them other than they are new...anyone have one? (or know of a cheaper source??)

http://www.taunton.com/press/pages/news_02_20_02.asp

Now you got me going!! Probably won't do well in my zone but I'm on a search mission for you.

Here's an image of it: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.html?page=/jcraulstonarboretum/publications/newsletters/15-vol-5-no-4/15-vol-5-no-4-horticulture.html.

If we wouldn't be tempting you beyond what you can bear, can you stand to go back and get some photos of the specimen they have? I added it to the PDB here in case you're up to the challenge: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/56536/

Terry, I will go take a pic, I don't have a super good camera, but I'll do the best I can!

Okay, here's the best I could do, I need to get a digital camera!!

the leaves are really soft. They've sold a lot of them since last weekend, there are some lucky people around here!

I have a question. I read the plant data base about this plant and it said it could be invasive. Why does the USDA or whoever allow importation of non-native stuff?
Just a question. I always think of Kudzu, another Asian import. Anybody know if the government regulates plants that can come in or not? It is a beauty and would look really nice in a Japanese Tea Garden.

There's a large, nasty can of worms in the answer to your question, trillium_girl. Our government imported kudzu, because they thought it would be a great soil-erosion control plant. HA! It's now smothering the south and is apparently gaining in cold hardiness, which means its gradually moving northward. I would not plant it, if I were you - you could wake up and find your house and car covered in vines :)

The same government that brought us kudzu now wants to require EVERY person to obtain a $25 (I think) phytosanitary certificate before importing seeds and plants (and severely limit the seeds, plants, etc. that are permitted to enter the country) Here's a link to the white list discussion: http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/WhiteList.htm


This message was edited Wednesday, Jun 25th 2:38 PM

Wow! A can of worms is right. Sometimes things get here like European Chafers which I believe were in the soil of imported shrubbery. A lot of the invasives have been here since the 1800's. The government is more culpable than individual gardeners for some of our invasives, i.e. Kudzu. We cannot get back lost species nor can we make things the way they were, the cat is out of the bag so to speak and much damage has already been done. Educating ourselves and being responsible in the garden may be the simplest and most effective means of semi-control. In everything we do we need to ask the question, "what impact are my actions having on the environment and my neighbors". Thanks for answering. Sounds like there is no easy answer.

Did anyone ever identify a place where these can be purchased? I've been looking for these since they first showed up in articles claiming they'd be available this summer, but haven't managed to get my hands on one.