Albizia julibrissin 'ROUGE SELECTION'

Mimosaceae plants are common and popular mainly in southern Europe for their high tolerance to drought as well as attractive and long-lasting flowering. Even though they come from subtropical parts of the world, there is one species hardy enough to be grown in our climate – the silk tree. It originates from Iran and is typical for its spreading, dome-shaped canopy and pink flowers over a long period in summer.

Rouge Selection is a French silk tree introduction of similar characteristics to Ombrella^® variety. It grows faster and a little taller and exhibits a purple tint on young leaves. Its flowers are sweetly scented, rich pink, 3-5 cm wide, hairy spheres with white centres. They bloom from early July for over 2 months if the summer is sunny and warm. Fern-like, compound leaves are soft green as they emerge but gain faint maroon hues in the first hot days of summer, close for the night, and re-open in the morning, just like mimosa when touched. They emerge very late in spring. The tree looks very exotic and deserves an attractive location in the landscape, best accompanied by other plants of Mediterranean habit.

It is a fast growing, small to medium-sized, multi-stemmed shrub or tree with irregular, flat or umbrella-shaped, spreading crown. Pruning is possible in early spring after all frosts. Do not cut deeper than about a third of previous year’s growth, otherwise it will not flower that season.

Grow it in full sun only. It needs warm, neutral to slightly alkaline, preferably poor or slightly fertile soil. Mulching is good for winter but in summer it prefers direct sunlight also at its roots so it can collect as much warmth as possible for better flowering. Never allow freshly transplanted specimens weed with grass for at least 3 years. If the tree grows at its natural speed the branches will mature well and will not be damaged by frost. Its borderline hardiness has not been set yet, but a tree with mature wood can withstand at least -23 °C without protection (USDA zone 6). Even if the branches are damaged by unexpectedly stronger frost, it readily regenerates from healthy or older wood.

Watch out for symptoms of a very dangerous disease – mimosa wilt disease. Read this article to follow instructions in case you spot them and we strongly suggest you do the procedure as prevention on annual basis.

Last update 23-07-2023