Every day I drive back and forth along the only road that will take you in and out my farm. It’s a scenic drive with plenty of wild areas along the way, and a state forest that backs up onto us. The first spring I was here, while driving in and out, I realized that we had quite a few mimosa trees along the road and wood edges. They were obviously growing wild. I mean, why would anyone plant an ornamental tree in the middle of the woods? The mimosa tree or Persian silk tree comes from Asia and China and was imported into the United States over 200 years ago. It’s easy to see why people like them. Every spring they produce large numbers of bright pink and yellow flowers that are quite striking.

Instead of the usual petals that you think of flowers having, mimosa flowers have fine, silky fibers that radiate out from a yellowish green center. These silky fibers form fluffy poofs of bright pink color. The flowers tend to grow in clumps along the tree, and erupt from bunches of green, grape sized buds in the early spring.

That also have long fern-like leaves that are attractive even when the tree isn’t in bloom. They are easy to keep and grow and don’t require much work on the part of the gardener. So how could these pretty ornamentals be anything but awesome, right?

The mimosas are definitely beautiful, but they can also be invasive, and can quickly take over an area and displace native plants. We seem to be lucky. Our mimosas have not spread beyond the road edges, and the native woods are still quite healthy. But not all wild areas fare so well. So just remember when you look at them, that even the most beautiful things can sometimes become dangerous!