Texas Mountain Laurel

(November 2006)

I have a 5 inch seedling of a mountain laurel (it has blue flowers in the spring) that came from San Antonio. I live in NW Ark and I am keeping it indoors for the winter, but would like to plant it outdoors in the spring. Will it survive the winters here? Please tell me more about keeping it alive.

I believe the plant you have is a Texas Mountain Laurel - Sophora secundiflora. This is not the true Mountain Laurel or Kalmia latifolia. The Texas Mountain Laurel plant would not be winter hardy in zone 6--NW Arkansas--it won't tolerate temperatures below 10. The Texas Mountain Laurel is an attractive spring-flowering small tree with glossy, evergreen leaves and beautiful purple wisteria-like blooms smelling of grape Kool-aid. It is also called Mescal Bean. They are native to the alkaline soils of the Texas Hill Country. They will not tolerate acidic soils. I think your best bet would be to continue to grow it in a container and store it in a protected spot for the winter.

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