How to Landscape With the Chocolate Mimosa

Chocolate mimosa has feathery, pink blossoms

Chocolate mimosa is named for its dark purple leaves, which turn a rich, chocolate-brown in late summer as they frame its large, feathery pink and white flowers. This newer member of the mimosa family can grow to a height of 50 feet in its relatively short life span of 25 to 30 years. Its leaves are large, and its limbs have the wide spread of an umbrella. Chocolate mimosa is a Japanese variety, and looks quite at home in any Asian-themed or Southern landscape.

Instructions

1. Check with your state's department of agriculture before you buy the plant to make sure chocolate mimosa is not considered an invasive species where you live. Chocolate mimosa seeds profusely and is considered a weed in Florida.

2. Choose planting sites where your chocolate mimosa will get at least six hours of direct sun each day. Make it one of the focal points in the landscape, because it is a showy plant at every time of year. In winter, when the leaves drop, its bare branches are interesting by themselves.

3. Plant chocolate mimosa well away from driveways, buildings and other trees. This tree will quickly become as wide as it is tall.

4. Plant chocolate mimosa by itself, or group with other plantings to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Other plantings might include shrubs like flowering quince, honeysuckle and azalea, or flowers like hollyhock, begonia and lantana.

5. Avoid planting chocolate mimosa at the edge of a pond or stream. Keep soil well-drained and lay down a layer of stone instead of mulch to keep weeds down. Mulch will hold too much moisture near the bark and roots, making them susceptible to rot.

Tips & Warnings

• Use dried mimosa flowers for homemade potpourri.

• Keep an eye out for mimosa wilt, a fungus that occurs easily when the plant is over-watered.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Checklist of New, Improved and Underutilized Trees for North and Central Florida
• Oregon State University: Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate'
• North Carolina State University: Albizia julibrissin
• Monrovia: Summer Chocolate Mimosa Tree
• Southern Living: Mimosa: The Wonderful, Awful Weed

Resources

• North Carolina State University: Going Native: Urban Landscaping For Wildlife
• University of West Virginia: Attracting Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds