Sacha wrote:
:: 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. --

I don't know if it will grow here then - our garden is pure sand after the
top 16 inches, what's under that I don't know...maybe it's better for
drainage as we do get a lot of rain in summer, although very little in
winter.