They like full sun to part shade and will grow in real shady places. It is considered an understory or medium high tree. It can grow as wide as 20 feet but trimming keeps it in bounds. You can't beat the pretty pink flowers.
I have found that I cannot do root cuttings from this tree, but the seeds start easily and grow fast. If you feed and water regularly, you will have a blooming tree the second year. It will only be 3 to 5 feet but will set a few blooms, even in a pot. Full sun is best.
The leaves fall in autumn. This is the ideal time to prune if you wish to shape. When you trim keep in mind the mimosa has a flat-ish top and fans out on the sides, so keep the design for a good tree. This applies if you have a single trunk.
During dry times you will need to water. In the south, the older trees develop a problem sometimes in real dry weather and don't recover. Watering usually deters this.
In south Georgia, it is considered a pest by some, and a treasure by others, so you can try it. If you don't like it, then you pull it. It can be made into a multi-stemmed plant by radical trimming, and will last longer than a single trunk plant because new ones come up around the trunk. It doesn't send suckers off from the tree.
By gbk from South Georgia
The tree called mimosa tree is in fact an Albizia. The majority of the Albizias grow in region with maximum low temperature of -10 degrees F (-23 degrees C) and they all resist dryness, but some of them survive lower temperatures like:
Caring for the Albizia is easy as you only have to plant it in a place where it will be protected from the wind and with enough space, branches can be 5 to 6 meters long. No pruning is needed.
To really appreciate its beauty and the fabulous scent of its flowers, plant it in a place where you can see it from above as the flowers only grow on the canopy of the tree and their perfume goes up in the air, from the ground level you can't smell it and you can't see the canopy covered with flowers.
By Catherine
By Eileen from Elk Grove, CA
Bees love the blooms, and yellow jackets often make nests in the ground underneath. They are the last to leaf out in spring and the first to lose their leaves in fall; blooms and seed pods make a real mess under the tree and mowing underneath can be dangerous because of the bees, hornets, and wasps that abound there.
We cut ours down about 3 years ago and still are fighting multiple sprouting seeds in lawn, garden, and flower beds. They are very prolific.
By Mary from Benton, KY
Is it easy or difficult to plant a mimosa tree from seeds? I collected some seed pods just outside of my city (in VA) and want to plant them, but I would like some tips. Also, how do I find out if my city or area of the country prohibits or discourages propagation of mimosa trees?
Hardiness Zone: 7a
By Cheryl from Washington DC
By MooseMom
10/04/2010
PLEASE check with your local agriculture department before you start planting mimosa seeds! While these trees may be pretty from far away, they are a real PAIN in the clean-up department to have in your yard! The flowers are messy, the leaves are messy, the trunks split easily, ants LOVE to farm the aphids that are attracted to the flower pollen and nectar...
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Growing Mimosa Trees