Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 24, 2026 Saugus Gardens in the Summer Here’s what’s blooming in town this week to make your walks more enjoyable By Laura Eisener T he full moon this month will occur on Wednesday, July 29. July’s moon is often called the buck moon, because this is the time of year that deer develop their antlers. ALS ope W of Registration at 9:00 a.m. The photo above shows fl owers and foliage of a silk tree, sometimes called mimosa (Albizia julibrisson ‘E.H. Wilson’), in the backyard of Arlene and Gene Decareau. Despite its not being close to the sidewalk, the tree’s height makes it visible over the roof of the house, especially in the afternoon when the sun shines on it. There are several examples of this species in Saugus, but I would still consider it a somewhat unusual tree. The foliage comes out fairly Angel Fund for The RESEARCH AN INDEPENDENT NON-PROFIT CHARITY Benefiting ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) research at UMass Chan Medical School Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA Saturday, September 12th, 2026 …a 3.5-mile walk around Walk begins at 11:00 a.m. • Build a team and obtain a sponsor • Collect pledges as a walker • Be a corporate sponsor • Make a tax-deductible donation to The Angel Fund Call 781-245-7070 or visit our website for more information. The Angel Fund for ALS Research • 649 Main Street • Wakefield, MA 01880 781-245-7070 • theangelfundals@gmail.com www.theangelfund.org Aluminum Aluminum Everett Supplies 10 Everett Ave., Everett 617-389-3839 Celebrating 66 Years in Business! •Vinyl Siding Decks • • •Carpentry Work •Decks • Replacement Windows Carpentry Work • • • Fully Insured Fully Insured • Replacement Windows www.everettaluminum.com Free Estimates Fully Licensed • Roong •Free Estimates •Fully Licensed •Roong Now’s the time to schedule those home improvement projects you’ve been dreaming about all winter! late in the spring, but when the compound leaves unfold, they are very graceful and lacy looking. At night or on a very dark cloudy day, the leafl ets droop to save moisture, and the fi rst time someone notices this they might be likely to think the tree is sick, but soon after the sun returns the leaves go back to normal. There is no fall color; the leaves seem to drop abruptly at the fi rst frost. The often-used name mimosa actually belongs to some other tropical plants with similar foliage, so it can be confusing, especially in warm parts of the world where 400 species currently identifi ed as mimosa grow. The showy part of the fl owers on a silk tree is not the petals, but the silky, threadlike stamens, which are extended beyond the rest of the flower parts in each infl orescence. You might not expect this to be a member of the legume family (Fabaceae) by looking at the fl owers, because the blossoms do not resemble the usual “pea” shaped blossom that you would find on familiar family members like common garden peas (Pisum sativum) and garden beans (Phaseolus spp.) or other hardy trees that are members of the family, such as honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) or Japanese pagoda tree (Styphnolobium japonicum). Once the fl owers are gone, however, the seed pods are fairly similar to other members of the family. The small fl at light green pods of the silk tree, through which you can see the outlines of the seeds, look very similar to snow pea pods although tougher and not considered edible. Parts of the tree have been used medicinally, but generally we think of it as primarily ornamental. Native to a wide area from the Near East to China, most places it grows have milder climates than ours. Less than a decade after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the French botanist Andre Michaux brought some silk trees to his new home in South Carolina, and they have spread throughout much of the southern U.S. and South America, but for over a century none were found to be hardy enough for the northern part of the U.S. In 1918, the famous plant collector from the Arnold Arboretum, Ernest Wilson, discovered a tree in Korea with deeper pink fl ower color than usual, as well as growing in a location that had colder winters than this tree usually tolerated. He brought A large silk tree, sometimes called mimosa, blooms in the backyard of Arlene and Gene Decareau on Central Street. (Photo courtesy of Laura Eisener) seeds back to Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. One of the original seedlings, now a substantial tree, still grows in what is known as the Explorers Garden on the south slope of Bussey Hill in the Arboreum. Now over 100 years old, this hardy specimen is multi-stemmed and spreading in shape, and attracts many visitors with its showy, long blooming blossoms. This variety — now offi cially called the cultivar ‘E.H. Wilson’ (Albizia julibrisson ‘E.H. Wilson’) but originally called ‘rosea’ — tolerates a colder climate than most members of this species. GARDENS | SEE PAGE 12 Summer is Here!
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