Light up the late winter garden with the Australian wattle, says Anne Swithinbank
WREATHED with tiny pompoms of fuzzy, fragrant yellow blossom, Acacia dealbata, the florist’s mimosa or silver wattle, will light up a garden in February or March.
These trees with evergreen, fernlike foliage are usually in bloom for Valentine’s Day, and in the language of flowers send a message of ‘secret love’. Their nectar is a welcome energy source for bees coming out of hibernation.
Although silver wattle is not reliably hardy in all parts of the British Isles, it will withstand temperatures down to around 19°F (-7°C) and is more frost-proof on a light soil than on a heavy one.
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