The silk tree - exotic and breathtakingly beautiful
The silk tree is an exceptionally decorative addition to the garden, providing fascinating colour effects and a tropical flair. In a sunny location, this rare beauty feels right at home and, despite its uniqueness, it is extremely easy to care for.
Unique and breathtakingly beautiful
The silk tree is something very special in any garden. The tree, which belongs to the mimosa family, is also known as the silk acacia, umbrella acacia or albizia.
It attracts all eyes with its attractive leaf decoration alone. In spring, the finely feathered young leaves appear in a rich green. In summer, the adult leaves of the Chocolate Albizia variety shine in a wonderful dark red to chocolate-brown colour.
In the evening, the finely feathered foliage of the albizia folds up. As soon as it gets light, the leaves take on their feathery shape again. This is why the umbrella acacia is sometimes called a dormant tree.
The silk tree also delights in autumn with its golden-yellow foliage. The pink or pink coloured flowers appear from July to August and are simply breathtaking. They exude a wonderful fragrance and appear like fragrant powder puffs with their long stamens.
The silk tree is a low-maintenance sun worshipper
The silk tree originally comes from a region stretching from Iran to Japan. Therefore, the exotic tree loves a full sun to partial shade location. There it should be protected from the wind as much as possible.
The dormancy tree does very well in a well-drained and fresh garden soil. Overall, the silk acacia is very soil-tolerant, with moderate nutrient requirements. Over the years, the rowan tree forms a beautiful umbrella-shaped crown, so that regular pruning is not necessary. Nevertheless, the umbrella acacia is cuttable, so that it can be pruned into shape without hesitation if necessary.
Its natural range also includes the Himalayan region. The silk tree is therefore also considered hardy in this country. Nevertheless, the exotic beauty is a little sensitive to frost. When young, the umbrella acacia should therefore be given winter protection. With increasing age, the dormancy tree becomes increasingly frost-tolerant, so that older specimens usually survive the winter well without frost protection.
Perfect as a solitary
Over the years, the dormancy tree develops a broad growth habit with an umbrella-like crown. With a maximum height of up to 400 cm, it is a small tree. It is therefore perfectly suitable even for small gardens.
Due to its beautiful growth, its unusual foliage and the breathtaking splendour of its flowers, it is an ideal solitary plant. If you want to buy a silk tree, you should definitely plant it as a solitary shrub, because it is simply too good to stand unseen in a corner of the garden.
Umbrella acacias are also excellent for keeping in the cold. However, older plants should also be given winter protection.
An eye-catcher in the Mediterranean garden
With its exotic appearance, the silk tree is a wonderful eye-catcher in Mediterranean or Asian gardens. With its attractive and striking flowers and chocolate-brown coloured foliage, it harmonises particularly well with a green background planting. Farms, Funkias and other green foliage ornamentals suit the dormancy tree perfectly and underline its attractiveness from spring to autumn.
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