Hardy Tropicals UK

i bought an acacia dealbata on a bit of a whim yesterday from the local gc. anyone else grow there? if so how many degrees of frost do they take? do they need pruning? and are they self fertile?

Have proven hardy here for the last 10 yeas or so, to at least -6 or lower.
You'll probably have to prune it fairly soon, as they,re extremely quick growing, but respond well to a prune.
Self-seeding everywhere, specially after disturbing any soil in the vicinity.

thanks for the info nigel. is yours in flower atm? the one i bought is covered in flower buds. what will happen if i get a frost? will it kill the flowers?

Mine are flowering at the moment too, which should last for about a month, frost never seems to bother them, which is just as well because the buds start developing around early autumn time.
You might get a little leaf damage if you get heavy snow that freeze-dries them, but I can,t see it happening this year'.
Having said that, you might as well wait a few more weeks before planting anyway.

I had quite a collection of Acacias but lost them all in winter 2010 quite big plants aswell.

My acacia did fine last year and this year the only issue has been defoliation in parts due to the gale force winds. Purperea are slightly hardier than dealbata for me.

I too was almost tempted to buy one yesterday. It was last years stock and due to the mild Winter, it was in bud.
I did give myself a reality check and thought again.....Don't do it! Even though it was a beautiful Spring-like day!! I have tried one before and failed. It just gets too cold where I am in a 'normal' Winter for buds to successfully develop into flower.