A year and a half ago when we replaced our front yard with drought tolerant landscape and drip irrigation, I desperately wanted to include Acacia cognata ‘Cousin Itt'. I had seen it in a catalog and thought it would be perfect. I fell in love with the photo showing lush emerald green, weeping foliage and the plant description said it would top out at two to three feet tall and four feet wide.
I only had a two day notice from my landscaper to obtain the plants and at that time, they were very difficult to locate. For the look I was going for I needed three specimens. I called around to many locations without success. Finally I found a nursery or two that said they had one, and that's what they meant, they had one plant. So my plants ended up coming from three different places. From the very start one specimen looked very sickly, normally I would not have taken it home with me. But when you are desperate and on a deadline, and have already driven all the way out there, you take what you can get.
The plants went in April 2016. The sickly plant did not make the year. The other two, however have done extremely well. They survived our heavy rains this last winter and our incredible hot streak of days over 100 degrees this July and August.
After the severe heat, the plants did look a bit tired on top. I researched whether I should cut it back at that point. The advice on line was sparse and contradictory. I elected to hold off and the plant has recovered nicely
Since the plants had done well, I recently bought two more. It is getting easier to find this plant. One I used in the spot where the sickly one had died and the other I put in the back yard. The neighborhood children really seemed to enjoy helping me plant this shrub. They enjoy running their hands through the leaves of the more established plants.
Hopefully these two new plants will do as well. More info on this species: native to Eastern Australia, full sun to part shade, needs well drained soil, drought tolerant once established, tolerant of frosts from eighteen to twenty five degrees, USDA Zones 9-11.
The picture shows two plants from the April 2016 planting and the newly planted replacement.