Hi, You should get the hardier variety, 'eh wilson' mimosa tree. It sounds like you have the right idea planting them on the south side of the house. There's not too much to do really, just plant and water until they get established. Btw, I know that Forest Farm carries the hardier variety. Good luck.

The Sunset western gardening book mentions one called 'rosea' that might be hardier too - plus it has darker pink flowers. My local nursery is trying to get that one for me. There are several that have been around here for a long time so I'm pretty confident about growing one as well.

Thank you both for the info. They are hard to find and people at the nurserys don't seem to know much about them. I'll look for those varieties you've mentioned.

Thank you both for the info. They are hard to find and people at the nurserys don't seem to know much about them. I'll look for those varieties you've mentioned.

If you're interested, I've got a couple of these in my yard and it produces LOTS of seed pods. I can send a bunch of seeds for you to try and germinate if you'd like... I also get lots of volunteers in the yard too - one sprouted a about 3 years ago next to the garage in my North side yard where there's NO supplemental water and little direct sun and it's 15ft tall now. They grow very fast from seed.

My "main" tree is on the south side of my house and gets full sun and some supplemental water (not much). It has been there since I've owned the house (7 years or so) and it has a great umbrella canopy about 20-25ft tall. It's just about to start blooming, the hummingbirds love it!