This show-stopping plant can be admired beside the Station Road gate.
Occurring in a band from Iran to Japan, Albizia julibrissin is a member of the pea family, Fabaceae, and is closely related to the mimosas. It has attractive spherical flower heads of multiple, individual, yellow-green flowers, and the selection ‘Rosea’, which is grown here, is more ornamental, bearing pink flowers. These comprise a dense head of flowers whose defining characteristic is the pink stamens, which give the appearance of a fine brush. These are set against a backdrop of attractive, deciduous, bipinnate foliage. Its delicate appearance belies its hardiness, for this is a hardy species requiring full sun, though it may succumb to frost damage. The genus Albizia occurs in tropical and subtropical zones in Asia, Australasia, Central America and Africa and contains over 100 species of trees, shrubs and climbers.