How come people don't have chinaberry trees in their yards any more?

[raccoon]

Used to be my family did, my grandparents did.

You still see them here and there, but not in yards. Along the roadside, along the edge of the woods....

[hedgehog]

1. I think that may be the weed tree that spouts up all over my

yard where we don't mow. Does it ever bloom?

[raccoon]

2. Yes, it has very fragrant purple blossoms.

[hedgehog]

3. Then either I have the wrong tree or else it's too cold in

Upstate New York (Zone 5) for the tree to bloom.

[raccoon]

5. According to this link, it should be able to grow there,

http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Melia_azedarach

Also there are more pictures of it there, so you can better determine whether or not your tree is the chinaberry.

[RushIsRot]

11. In the posted photo, they look somewhat like sumac. Maybe that's

what you have.

[raccoon]

12. No, it's chinaberry, but that isn't an image that shows you the whole tree. nt

[GoCubsGo]

4. Thank goodness for that!

I think people got sick of slipping and falling on the mess the fruit makes. And, sick of having to cut back all the sprouts and re-sprouts. It's an introduced species from Southeast Asia, and I, for one, am glad to see them disappearing. I would like to see mimosas, kudzu, privet, and Japanese honeysuckle disappear right along with them. Good luck with that...

[raccoon]

6. Kudzu will be here long after we're gone, I expect. :-) nt

[hedgehog]

8. Here's teh plan - turn kudzu into a bio fuel source!

[Kali]

7. there is a native version - western soapberry

http://www.arizonensis.org/sonoran/fieldguide/plantae/sapindus.html
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3A73Ul5WzOeKsJ%3Ahort.ufl.edu%2Ftrees%2FSAPDRUA.pdf+western+soapberry+tree&hl=en&gl=us

and from the google I see there is another native to the tropical americas as well

[alphafemale]

9. Mimosas are blooming here right now.

Beautiful. I prefer them in he wild though. It would be a rather gangly thing to have in your yard.

[raccoon]

10. And they'll take over an empty field. The flowers smell great, though. nt

[david13]

13. The problem was they too closely resembled marijuana and a whole

lot of them were smoked, to no avail.
Now everybody goes with bottle brush.
With the red they will even invite hummingbirds.
My own preference is lilacs. I love the natural scent, but it only lasts about 2 weeks of the year.
dc

[texanwitch]

14. I love Chinaberry trees.

They are the only trees that have leaves that change colors in the fall.

As kids we would shoot the little green hard berries at each other.