Is anybody successfully growing Acacia Dealbata?

It is not really cold in Manchester in winter. The coldest it was - 6 degrees C at night. But as far as I remember it happened twice last winter in the NW of Manchester. The previous winters were almost the same. I don't remember it to be colder than - 6C for 20 years. And we have snow very very rarely. Sometimes the worst weather happens in spring, always when my white dwarf rhododendron is in blossom.

 

How about this, a young plant.

 

Thanks, minus 6 is unusual here but definitely not unheard of.
Last winter was very mild.

 

Yes it could be the same as mine.
I have 2 Acacias Boormanii and I adore them. I bought them together and planted in large pots but put them in different parts of the garden. One starts flowering much earlier and I enjoy its flowers for 2 months (the first flowering plant in my garden). The other one flowers much later and only for a month. So I repotted it in a much bigger pot and moved it a little bit closer to the first one. I hope it will prefer its new place there and will flower longer.

 

Thank you @Black Orchid and @pete ! My boormanii (grown from seed and a great big lump) is now going to be evicted from the greenhouse and into the garden. I think it might even start to flower there. I used to live in Manchester for many years and I think my climate here is milder (though just as wet). Yours is obviously a really good flowerer @Black Orchid - very impressive. I used to find costiniana was modest, but smelled lovely and repeat flowered through the year. It's a pity that dealbata and baileyana are the only common ones with the nice pinnate leaves. I have 8-10 varieties in the glasshouse and all seem to be fairly boring adult foliage.

 

So dear fellow-gardeners, do you think I have no chance to have my Acacia Dealbata flowering in my garden in Manchester? In spring I saw a picture on FB of a beautifully flowering Acacia Dealbata in Stockport. And I already wrote in Autumn that I managed to buy an Acacia Dealbata in buds from a garden centre in Ashton under Line (Greater Manchester). Unfortunately I hadn't noticed that it was covered with some bugs' larvae. No matter what I did I failed to save it. Wrote an email to the nursary but they never replied.

 

Yes @Black Orchid - I would try. If you can grow boormani so well I don't see why dealbata would be less hardy. And Manchester is much milder than rural Nottinghamshire where my neighbour grew it (though in the ground). You could try from seed - acacia are VERY fast. The only risk is of getting a less floriferous one than a commercial clone. But it would be very cheap to get a whole grove of them!

 

Thank you Caroline for your advice, but I already tried to grow Acacia Dealbata from seeds and failed as not a single seed germinated. At the same time I was very successful with Silk Tree seeds which are similar.

 

Have heard soaking seed in near boiling water sometimes breaks dormancy, but I can't say I've tried it.

The boormaii that Caroline sent me germinated like weeds .
A verticilliata seeds I bought at Ventnor were a no show, even leaving the pot for over a year.

 

Never had a problem with Acacia germinating from seed (soaked for 24 hrs) but sometimes had seedlings collapse. Unfortunately with a small garden I have no room for more Acacias or any more shrubs.

 

Thank you.

 

Yes, definitely soak in water straight from kettle. If they are viable they then germinate pretty fast. Go on @Black Orchid. I'll order some dealbata seed as well and we can see how they do!
@pete I thought I sent you drummondii?

 

@CarolineL .

 

Doh!

 

Sorry, Caroline,
If I try again to germinate Acacia Dealbata seeds, I'll do it in spring as I have too much things to do in the garden now. If you germinate some Acacia Dealbata seeds now tell me later about your experience, please.