[Bracey]

I'm finding this discussion too funny as this tree is a weed here in San Jose, California.  It grows everywhere, reseeding like mad.  We have heavy alkaline clay soils here.  And bone dry in the summer with large cracks in un-irrigated areas.  Cheers, Bracey

[MikeHardman]

 
A case of: one man's weed is another man's want-it!

[JTh]

Absolutely

[John]

Following my mention of how well they are doing in London I took a hand held shot of this one in Dulwich village today. South London.

[JTh]

'Summer Chocolate' is now for sale in Norway, I don't think I'll have more luck with it here than in Greece.

[Fleur Pavlidis]

Much to my regret I have to post a warning about using Albizia julibrissin as a summer shade tree. My biggest and best specimen is growing in my mountain village garden, planted to shade a paved sitting area. After ten years and judicious pruning its canopy is wide enough and in the spring and early summer it's fine but when we visited in August it was a disaster. The falling flowers had made a thick carpet of cough and sneeze inducing rubbish underneath. Never mind we have brooms and tissues and the stuff goes straight onto the compost heap. But when I'd finished clearing up I found that the tree also ouses honey at this time of year - into my hair and on to my clothes - and onto the car parked outside. So we simply couldn't use the sitting area and sheltered from the heat of the sun round the sides of the house.