Mimosas

Whenever I mention mimosas to my (grown) children, they immediately think of the delicious breakfast drink with orange juice and champagne.  I like mimosas as much as they do, but usually when I talk about mimosas, I’m talking about the trees.  Mimosas are in their full frilly pink glory right now. I hope that little girls everywhere are picking the blossoms and using them as powder puffs as I did as a child.

We had two mimosa trees at my childhood home, one in front of the house, one just behind it.  At that point, before the onset of the Mimosa vascular wilt, mimosa trees were very tall and healthy and the branches of our particular trees met over the roof of our house. In my girlish romantic thoughts, they were star crossed lovers, separated (by a house) who grew and grew until their branches touched as they soared toward heaven. It was on these trees that I learned to climb and to perch above the world to dream – and to spy on my unsuspecting family below me.

Unfortunately, both trees succumbed to the wilt which reached the South in the early 60s.  They died and we had to cut them down.  This same disease is still rampant today, causing the trees to be scrawny and short lived.  Unfortunately, they reproduce so quickly that mimosas are considered pests and and are on the invasive plant list in most states where they grow.

Actually, mimosas aren’t really mimosas.  The tree which bears this name is the Persian Silk Tree, Albiza julibrissin, and isn’t even in the Mimosa family.  It just looks something like the true mimosa with its feathery leaves.

The tree, by any name, is unquestionably beautiful right now.  When I pointed it out to 10 year old grandson, Rivers, he said, “Isn’t that from China?”  I was amazed and was puffing up with pride about his botanical knowledge when he said, “I saw it in a Chinese karate movie.”  At first I was a little disappointed, but then I thought, Well, at least he was aware enough about trees to recognize it in a movie and identify it later!  I’ll take what I can get.  He’s right, though, Persian Silk Tree is native not only to the area once known as Persia but also to China and other Asian countries.

For those of you who are more familiar with the tree than the drink, here’s a quick, delicious recipe:

Fill a champagne glass half way with dry, sparkling wine or dry Persecco.  Top with freshly squeezed orange juice and go sit under your favorite mimosa tree!  Enjoy them both.