Acacia pravissima
20th October 2010
One of the great joys of moving to Cornwall was the chance to grow a whole new range of plants
that would not have been possible in my Essex garden. Among them were the Acacia. I tried a few
species from seed and grew some large plants in pots, but this was the only one
that really prospered outside in the garden.
Prefers good light and makes a compact prickly bush. I had a fried a couple of miles down the road who grew it into
a magnificent entrance archway.
Sadly a series of cold winters have killed most of them. I was missing having it in the garden
so I was really grateful for this seedling and really sad when it was killed in the greenhouse last winter.
When we finally return to mild winters I will try again - they weren't all killed locally
so it isn't a hopeless exercise.
Ironically, this seedling came from a garden in Kent, where it was self sowing.
It is an Australian species, from Victoria and parts of New South Wales. There is probably some variation in
hardiness over the range - seed from the southern part of Victoria might produce the hardiest plants
for the UK.