Mimosa Blooms Its Feathery Flowers

These beautiful cottony blooms are of a Mimosa tree not far from my house. Sadly, the fifty-year-old Mimosa tree in my yard had to be cut down last year after it was struck by lightning. I really miss viewing these fanciful tufts of pink and white from my kitchen window.

The Mimosa, formally named Albizia julibrissin, is really a member of the pea family (Fabaceae), although it was imported from Japan to North America first in 1745 for its ornamental qualities.
Like other plants that are relocated as non-native within our indigenous flora, care must be taken to provide a lot of space around the Mimosa. It has a tendency to crowd out other plants and competes with indigenous plants, often choking them out in areas that have been disturbed by construction or highway routes. When it performs invasively, it will actually create thickets which are undesirable.

Given proper placement and care, the Mimosa grows from a trumpet like trunk and spreads out on top like a canopy with delicate compound leaves that are almost fern-like and provide wonderful shade in addition to its flowering display of wispy blooms that appear in late June to July. Wonderfully fragrant, the nectar from the flowers also attracts hummingbirds and bees.

Mimosas can bloom throughout the summer, it replaces its quickly whithering blooms with new ones readily. The seeds form at the base of the flower after it has whithered and look like a cluster of peas, true to its lineage. Keep an eye out for some varieties that have deeper almost red blooms, and others, usually wild whose blossoms are almost pure white.