Albizia julibrissin (Persian Silk Tree)

Albizia julibrissin (Persian Silk Tree)

This is a tree familiar to anyone who has travelled through the south of France, where it's widely planted. It originated in the Middle East, though (surprise!), and its natural range runs down to Ethiopia. It's good in high temperatures and is pretty drought resistant too.

Albizia is a pretty thing, with delicate foliage (leaflets closing in the evening), an attractive habit, and frothy and improbable looking pink flowers in mid summer. These attract a wide range of pollinators, particularly butterflies and bees.

As you might expect, Albizia needs a sunny sheltered spot on well drained soil. It's slow to get going in the spring, which protects it to some degree, but can suffer damage from a late frost. It's important to stress a frost like this won't see it off; it will just suffer some damage.

I was surprised to see some folk claiming online that it grows to 10m+; I don't think I've seen one that big and would more categorise it as a small tree growing to something like 6m.

Size: 2 litre pot, 60-80cm

Flowers: October - December

Soil type: Most well drained soils
Supplier : R.V.Roger