The Mimosa As An Escape in West Virginia and Kentucky

The “mimosa tree,” or sensitive tree (Albizzia julibrissin) was introduced into Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky as an ornamental but a few short decades ago and it has proved quite popular throughout our region, especially in the mountain counties of Kentucky and the Tug river counties of West Virginia (mainly Mingo and McDowell). This tree is now much in demand for lawn, park and roadside planting, and the writer has had requests for young mimosas from persons as far north as Wayne county, Ohio. The tree is said to have come from Asia and Africa, and is subtropical. While this tree seems quite hardy in the above region, I am much interested in knowing whether it will thrive in Northern Ohio, and will have a report on this later.