When we moved into our house, there was an acacia in the backyard. Unfortunately, it did not survive. I have wanted to replace it for 20 years. Last year a friend gave me a start, it was a volunteer of one of his acacias. It did not survive. I took a cutting from one of his acacias, it was doing well, then suddenly died. Apparently, I was doing something wrong.
When I went to the San Luis Botanical Garden sale, I purchased an Acacia iteaphylla. It is a beautiful plant. Similar, but not the same as the original acacia.
Monday when I was walking from the Hoover Herbarium to my car, I noticed a small acacia at the corner of the parking lot.
It may be Acacia podalyriifolia. It had a slew of seed pods, some already empty. With the help of Peggy, a fellow Herbarium volunteer, we snagged a handful of pods and I brought them home.
I researched how best to have planting success and every source seemed to consistently recommend placing the seeds in a container and to pour nearly boiling water over them. Then allowing the seeds to soak overnight.
I placed the remaining seeds in an envelope and may use the seed pods in a piece.
After a night of soaking there is a huge difference in the size of the seeds.
Comparison–Top Seed Soak for 24 Hours
Bottom Seed Has Not Been Soaked
I planted the soaked seeds in a nine cell, in cactus mix. Placed the nine cell in the greenhouse. Now, I wait.
Update July 13
In 8 of the 9 cells there are sprouts.
Update July 18
Update September 2
The extreme heat yesterday took a tole on the 4 remaining Acacia seedlings. The temperature was 106º which is unusual for the California Central Coast.
Only 4 seedlings survived before the extreme heat. One of the seedlings may not make it. It is time to transplant the remaining seedlings into at least 4″ pots.
Australian National Botanic Gardens
The following information is from the Australian National Botanic Gardens–
“The genus Acacia belongs to the family Mimosaceae. There are some 1350 species of Acacia found throughout the world and close to 1000 of these are to be found in Australia. Commonly known as Wattle, Acacia is the largest genus of vascular plants in Australia.”