Fantastic Design Plant: Texas Mountain Laurel

When it’s the purple blooms of the plant, the fact that it needs just monthly mowing or its different grape Kool-Aid smell, there is a lot to love about Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora). While you may not call Texas Hill Country home, adding a few Lone Star style to your landscape can be as simple as planting a tree.

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Bryan – oz4caster

Botanical name: Sophora secundiflora
Common names: Texas mountain laurel, mescal bean, mountain laurel, mescal bean sophora, frijolillo, frijolito
USDA zones: 8 to 10
Water requirement: Infrequent
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 15 feet tall and wide
Tolerances: Drought, wind, deer and frost

Caution: Seeds are poisonous if ingested

Distinguishing attributes. A desert indigenous, Texas mountain laurel owns survival traits essential to thrive in an arid climate while exuding features of plants out of a great deal more temperate regions. Obviously dispersing and shrubby, it may also be trained as a multistemmed vertical tree.

Dark green compound leaves insure its branches year-round, but its early spring blooms make Texas mountain laurel shine. Reminiscent of wisteria flowers, drooping clusters of violet-blue buds abound in midwinter. The flowers are described as smelling like grape Kool-Aid or other artificial grape products. A relatively brief bloom time contributes to summertime seed pods. If possible, eliminate the seed pods until they open in order to prevent the poisonous seeds from falling.

Photo by Stan Shebs via Wikimedia Commons

Rod Anderson

How to use it. Texas mountain laurel is a great choice for a patio or little space because of its human scale and vertical form. If you would rather make it untrained, Texas mountain laurel will spread nicely to form a landscape screen year-round.

Pam Bycraft

Planting notes. Texas mountain laurel thrives in heat, owing to its native climate, however is hardy to temperatures reaching 10 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Plant in well-drained soil and give it profound monthly waterings during especially warm months. Texas mountain laurel is relatively slow growing, causing it to be a pricier specimen tree. If you train it like a tree, then narrow it throughout the growing period to reduce wind damage.

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