Robinia x hillieri

Robinia x hillieri.
Left - the fully open flowers fade to a pale pink, they faintly scented.
Right - mature specimens at about 6m tall. They grow vigorously reaching their full height in about 5 or 6 years and then filling out, their limited size makes them an extemely useful tree with an almost bonsai aged and gnarled appearance at a small size. They are un fussy about soil type and can withstand drought and wet conditions, perhaps their only disadvantage is that their wood is quite brittle which combined with their vigorous growth means that they can be prone to branches breaking in high winds. This becomes less of a problem after the tree has gone through it's 'teenage' years of initial rapid growth. Positioning out of strong winds where possible will help develop a tree with balance structure.

Robinia x hillieri foliage is a dull but dark green off setting the colour of the flowers well. The buds and flowers of this tree are some of the most beautiful we can grow in Europe and unlike the Tulip tree where the blooms are high up we can actually see them close up.