Please identify this Mystery Tree

[TheNoodlesIncident]

Step this way, shove...

On the school run, we pass a garden with this tree in it. It's a large sapling/whip, planted in a large pot.

We managed to get a photo of it before the owners moved the pot no doubt alarmed at all the interest in their tree to further in the garden away from the boundary. But what IS it? I've looked in my gardening books but they're mostly of yesteryear from when I was actually training, so they may be out of date in that they don't include species recently introduced.

I NEED to know what it is, I really want one but am too shy to knock on the door of the owners to ask...

[P1nkP0ppy]

Ummm....photo? Please? 😀

[Imgrr]

I can't see your photo.

[TheNoodlesIncident]

Rofl, just seen that...

[OhNoNotMyBaby]

er... link?

Otherwise we can guess!

[TheNoodlesIncident]

Here it actually is..

Duh, forget me own head next...

[TheNoodlesIncident]

I should also state photo credit goes to TheFogsGettingThicker, my own picture was rubbish

[mintthins]

Is it an acacia?

[P1nkP0ppy]

Is it a mimosa? Lots of tiny fluffy yellow flowers in summer?

[TheNoodlesIncident]

I haven't seen it in the summer, this is its autumn appearance. I guess the nodules on the ends could be where flowers were? It does look acacia-like but I'm not at all sure. Is it frost hardy now? I can only recall acacia being Australian

Not being very helpful, am I? Thank you for replying (and not mocking for my forgetting the photo)

[Imgrr]

Acacia dealbata are hardy according to the RHS.

[bookbook]

could it be this albizia

[shovetheholly]

I think it might possibly be Acacia baileyana 'Purpurea'. The leaf colour is lovely! But people like gatekeeper are way better than me at this!!

[shovetheholly]

(I am fascinated and confused by the fact that google images of that plant point to two completely different looking things!)

[WowOoo]

I'm no expert, but my first thought at looking at those leaves was Mimosa.

[shovetheholly]

(If it is one of those acacias, it can be propagated by seed, so maybe you should knock on that door and praise it loudly in the hope that some is offered!! Alternatively, if that fails, fogs could distract the owner by fainting, giving noodles a tactical chance to snaffle some pods while the owner finds their smelling salts).

[shovetheholly]

I am now also consumed with flower-greed for a chocolate albizia. I am blaming book.

[ChuckBiscuits]

Sequoia?

[NanTheWiser]

It is Acacia baileyana purpurea - very pretty but classed as half-hardy, it won't survive a hard frost. Might be OK in a very sheltered South coastal area.

[TheNoodlesIncident]

shove you are very naughty indeed

It is properly glaucous, from across the road we thought it probably a Eucalyptus and only realised on closer inspection that it had those glorious fringed leaflets. Otherwise acacia may have occurred to me a bit sooner as I associate that with lime green leaves. Googling shove's and Nan's suggestion found an image very like the one I posted. But if it's not fully hardy?

We're in North West, fairly nearly the coast - not exactly the mildest but obviously not the worst either. Oh dear, I need to move to the Scilly Isles I think... otherwise it might need wrapping in horticultural fleece for the duration, probably only practical while it's still small.

The Albizia julibrissin f. rosea book mentioned - thank you thank you thank you!! You've saved me posting another thread saying We Need This Tree Too - DH and I saw this planted in Greece and dearly wanted one, but feared it wouldn't survive our climate so dismissed it. Then we saw it thriving in Chester Zoo and hope sprang up once more. Now all I need is to find a supplier!

Thanks to all who posted, I appreciate your sterling efforts

[bookbook]

I have enjoyed this - it gave me a much enjoyed 10 minutes flicking through my plant finder ( I'm not good at identification at all , but do like searching), so I am so glad it helped you Noodles :)
shove - the chocolate one is a pretty thing, I agree, but do you have any realistic chance where you are ? its hardiness 3 on RHS - not so good as the green one, sadly. But my whole life in gardening is hankering after shrubs that don't cope with my chalk soil !

[TheNoodlesIncident]

We took another picture again today, you know, just in case. Poor tree was bent over at 45 degrees in the wind. It didn't look very happy. Not sure I can post photo either because too much of the tree-owner's house and car can be seen, so I thought best not to add it.

My garden faces south at the back (clay soil which floods) and north at the front (again clay soil which waterlogs) - it is very sunny right by the boundary wall, but it's most exposed there too. I don't think conditions are going to be great.

What we could do is try it in a pot? A BIG pot.

[shovetheholly]

book - no, it would be deader than a doornail by mid February. But I can dream... .

noodles - I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT IT! YAY!

With regard to your garden, I found this article:

www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3335092/How-to-grow-Mimosa.html

which says that Acacias grow in Blackpool, though the species that is loving it there is Acacia melanoxylon, which I think might be just a touch hardier.

However, given that you are on the coast and that climate change is altering all of the rules on what it's possible to grow, and also given there is evidence that some species do thrive in the north West, it might be worth a punt. The risk is a really brutal winter - maybe have some fleece in reserve or keep it in a pot for a bit so you can bring it in for a bit in harsh conditions?

Alternatively, you could get the green-leaved Albizia that book mentioned upthread which is a bit tougher and has really similar leaves. (I like the flowers and form a bit better than the Acacia personally!!)

Oh, and wrt the Scilly Isles, I often think someone really ought to give me an estate in Cornwall somewhere, just a modest one with about 9 acres or so. Sadly, I have not had any offers yet, though.

[TheNoodlesIncident]

Thank you for that article Shove - it says "A. baileyana ‘Purpurea' is a favourite with gardeners. To thrive, it needs a slightly more sheltered environment or a cool greenhouse. It has strong purple foliage that fades to steel-blue - a spectacular combination even without its pale gold flowers."

I've got a south facing L-shaped area which tends to be a bit sheltered from the wind (of course depending on wind direction) so I could give it a try there, wrapping it up cosily in fleece through winter. Although I can see me bringing it into the garden room if it gets really nasty I imagine winter wet is a no-no too.

I don't know what it is, but we ALL seem to spend our time hankering after plants that just won't thrive in our conditions...

[shovetheholly]

I KNOW!! Why is that? I find things I can't grow and I want them TWICE as much.

In a really cosy corner, in a part of the north west that doesn't get much snow, it might do OK. I would worry with height/exposure, especially while it was a young 'un. You could grow some from seed, because then you would potentially have a backup! (I think they are quite easy to do). They are just £2 a packet from here www.jungleseeds.co.uk/contents/en-uk/d7.html

[TheNoodlesIncident]

I hope the koala comes free with them, or would I need to get a Eucalyptus for it? So cute! I might go for that, thanks..

I'm thinking I should really don my Big Girl pants and ask the tree-owners where they got it might have to blow the dust from said pants first - it might well be a local garden centre I haven't been to for a while. I'd like to grow some from seed, but what would I do with all the little trees if they took nicely? They'd need new homes, they would! Well, some of them. I couldn't keep them all. But at least I wouldn't have to indulge in subterfuge by getting Foggy to pretend-faint on someone's doorstep