Any experiences with it for this purpose?

I have three plants of this one. My oldest one is the Mexican form with the fine hair-like prickles. When I first bought it at a nursery in Palm Springs I planted it out and it promptly died back to just a few inches above ground. It took another two years to finally kick in and put on decent growth that summer. Presently it is about three feet tall with gangly growth. It bloomed so-so last summer but bloomed really well the summer before that.

The other two are the more traditional forms that one usually finds in Florida. This is the Guatemalen form with the regular, rose-like prickles and the greener foliage. I've had these plants for two years now. They are about one foot tall. I've read where it says they grow very fast in Florida but that certainly is not the case here in SoCal.

Both forms retain their leaves for me through the winter and then lose their leaves briefly in the Spring.

I just don't think you are going to get what you are hoping for--especially living in Ohio.

-Ron-

Awhile back I posed a similar question about using Sesbania tripeti as an annual ornamental from seed, and had similar skeptical responses. The plants wound up blooming abundantly here beginning in August.