On 19/8/04 9:40, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:

snip
Very unlikely. It doesn't even appreciate being kept in a pot for
very long and really needs to get its roots out into the soil. It is
a native of Iran and eastwards through the more arid regions of Asia,
where summers are blisteringly hot and winters cold and dry. It will
grow in the southern counties of England if planted in a very well
drained soil. Full sun is essential if it is to flower and the most
successful plants are those that are backed by a sunny, south facing
wall thereby benefitting from reflected heat by day and radiant heat
at night. Adapted to impoverished soils, this is the one tree that
you do not need to feed or water once established - even during the
hottest and driest of summers. It does not flower as a young small
plant, unlike its more tender, much faster growing cousin - Albizia
lophantha, which is easily flowered as a 12 month old in a 5 litre
pot.


Friends of mine living in the Loire valley in France had this in their
garden. They were quite high up and had a lot of fog but not too much
frost. However in one very snowy winter their Albizia died off and now I
wonder if it was being wet at the roots for a long time as the snow melted
that killed it. Their garden is steeply drained but I'd think the whole
area (which is surrounded by chestnut forests) is damp in general.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)