Any cold hardy double compound leaves?

GailC

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Are there any trees that have double compound leaves that are cold hardy?
 

Forsoothe!

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Mimosa is marginal in zone 5 and 6.
 

GailC

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That might be pushing it here. I'm in zone 5 but some years it gets even colder.
I'll check the mimosas though, maybe there is a more cold hardy cultivar.
 

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Actually, I mean Albizia julibrissin which many call Mimosa. In Michigan they usually winter top-kill about every ten years, but there's one in my sub that been there 40 years. It still loses some branches now and again. I'm working on one in my yard that top-killed last winter. Honey locust and Black Locust are also bipinately compound.
 

GailC

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Not sure about honey locust but we do have black and idaho locust I could get my hands on.
I'm also looking in siberian pea bush, it looks similar to locust but smaller leaves and pods.
 

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Ya know, I forgot all about one of my favorite trees. Shame on me.
273119
 

GailC

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Thats great, thanks
 

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Are there any trees that have double compound leaves that are cold hardy?
Yes, some kind of what looks like a locust tree is all over the Chicago area and I've seen it up in southern Wisconsin very close to the 4-5 boarder. I'm not sure what it's exact name is but it's all over the place and planted by many cities in this area.
 

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Yes, some kind of what looks like a locust tree is all over the Chicago area and I've seen it up in southern Wisconsin very close to the 4-5 boarder. I'm not sure what it's exact name is but it's all over the place and planted by many cities in this area.
Those are Honey Locust. Very common city street tree in the mid-west, and native. Black Locust have larger leaves, nice fragrant flowers, more raggedy, shaggy bark, but are very upright, stiff, prone to breakage from ice, snow, and wind, and wire poorly. They grow upland on drier ground. They look very dark green in summer, groves look black from a distance. There is a pink flowered cultivar, and two contorted, 'Twisty Baby' & 'Lace Lady' neither of which is dwarf. They all look like Halloween trees in winter.
 
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AJL

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What about Mountain ash cultivars(Sorbus spp) - very cold hardy with colourful fruit and great autumn colours?
 

AJL

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Also Wisteria?
or if you want something completely different check out Lomatia ferruginea (Fuinque)
 

GailC

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What about Mountain ash cultivars(Sorbus spp) - very cold hardy with colourful fruit and great autumn colours?
I've been trying to get a air layer off my mt ash for a couple years. Going to try a different tree this spring.
 

GailC

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@Forsoothe! Have you seen Idaho locust? They have pink flowers and bloom multiple times during the summer.
I had a stunted and deformed one by the house until DH ran it over with the ATV. It came back as a clump, they do sucker though. They pop up all over the yard.

Edit: I actually have a bristly locust, one of the parent trees of the idaho.
 
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Forsoothe!

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@Forsoothe! Have you seen Idaho locust? They have pink flowers and bloom multiple times during the summer.
I had a stunted and deformed one by the house until DH ran it over with the ATV. It came back as a clump, they do sucker though. They pop up all over the yard.

Edit: I actually have a bristly locust, one of the parent trees of the idaho.
Never heard of Idaho Locust. I have seen the bristly one called ~sticky? locust? Safe to say that would be cut & grow, wiring would be a challenge.
You have a sucker you want to trade?
 

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Idaho Locust, Robinia × ambigua is a cross between black locust and downy or bristly locust. It is a bit invasive and grows throughout drier portions of the midwest from Idaho to New Mexico. Extremely tolerant of adverse growing conditions, it has very pink almost fuchsia flowers but otherwise is rather course and large leaved like the black locust. I would not mind having one growing on my property but I would probably not waste my time trying to bonsai it.
Honey locust is a safer bet for training as bonsai, but also not without its issues.
 

GailC

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Never heard of Idaho Locust. I have seen the bristly one called ~sticky? locust? Safe to say that would be cut & grow, wiring would be a challenge.
You have a sucker you want to trade?

I don't have a sucker right now, they are under snow. I can dig one in the spring but you see that I have the bristly and not the idaho?

Why do you say the bristly can't be wired? Is it because of the bristles? They are only on young plants, the bristles fade away around 3 or 4 yrs old giving way to pretty smooth bark.

They are so weird seeing pop up in the yard, they look like pink pipe cleaners. Fuzzy, slightly sticky but not sharp.
Eventually they do harden and get pokey, thats when they start falling off.

I'll have to find a Idaho this spring. They look like a proper tree and have darker/longer flowers.
 

GailC

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@penumbra Its odd that there are no honey locust around here. We have white locust but people hate them due the breaking branches and the thorns. It was one of the first things to go when we moved in this house.
Do the honey have brittle branches like the white? They are pretty but I don't want to deal with thorns. I'll stick to the pea bush and maybe give a bristly a try.

I was really hoping to find something closer to a mimosa .
 

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I found this article which states that Acacia baileyana is rated for zones 4-8.

Personally I find that a dubious claim at best but maybe there are people who have tried it. I'd think there are possibly better Acacia candidates that hail from the Aussie mountains but again zone 4-5 may be a stretch for Wattles.
That said you can always try it out but I wouldn't invest too much in them.
 
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