I may not be the best one to answer your questions as I only planted a Retama last summer. I wanted an ornamental tree that would not throw a lot of shade. I had looked for a Palo Verde 'desert museum, but not finding one for sale I settled for the Retama, which may be a better choice of my San Antonio location anyway. Mara, who is knoweable about desert type plants, said it would probably do better than the PVdm in the sometimes wet and sometime dry growing condition we have here. The Retamas at the San Antonio Botanical Center looked a lot prettier to me than the 'desert museums'.

It didn't take it long to settle in and begin to grow. With enough rain this spring to drown lesser adapted plants it continues to thrive. I love the long graceful leaves and the interesting green trunk -- plus it bloomed nicely this spring.

Since it is fairly close to a walk way I've had to prune outward growing limbs several times to direct it's growth upward. It doesn't seem to mind and is growing taller by the day. It's up to 7 or 8 ft. from about 4 ft when planted last year. In a spot with more space it would have been beautiful to allow the spreading growth.

I'm looking forward to reading responses from others who have more mature trees.

I like mine. It is a bit thorny , but that never bothered me much. Maybe just when I was trimming it. Some people call it a messy tree but I love the yellow "snow" on the decomposed granite mulch. Great color combination. I get multiple bloom flushes in the summer. My verdict is still out on my Blue paloverde tree. It is pickier for my area.

Love it. So graceful & pretty. They sometimes get a lot of hate because they are 'common' or 'messy'. People! they'll complain because a tree flowers too much?! Seriously, it does have thorns, but the leaf/flower litter is a lot less than almost any other tree I can think of.

It's been very happy in 2 widely different zones I've had it in. Once it's well established it thrives with no additional water.
I just pop off the thorns on the trunk where someone might get snagged & ignore the ones up high. It does throw nice lacy shade that other things can live under.