This Texas Evergreen,how far north will this grow and stay evergreen,and will it lose it's leaves and come back in the spring ???
Maybe as far north as Amarillo?
Sophora Secundiflora
Hello Tropicman, the Texas Mountain Laurel is supposed to be hardy to zone 8, you might stretch it to zone 7, but if I were you I would keep it potted and bring it in.
I don't think it is root hardy, so if the top dies it is gone, and it is a slow grower too.
I have one in the ground here in zone 8 and it does great. One thing that is different about it is, the flower spikes form during the spring and summer for the following year, and it blooms early in the spring, but if a late freeze comes the flowers the are ready to open will freeze and no flowers that year. This has happened two times in the nine years we have had it.
Here is a link for you;
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/nativeshrubs/sophorasecund.htm
and a picture of our shrub.
Josephine.
Thanks Frostweed,love the flowers!!!
Looks like another container plant!!!!LOL
You are welcome, I hope it does well for you, we love ours and i think it is one of the best Texas native plants.
Josephine.
It also subject to the 'sophora worm', sort of like a tent catapiler. They attack the forming flower buds and new folege and again, no flowers next year. It is worth the effort to protect it because it is sooooo beautiful. Gene
You know Geneivy, I have heard about the worms, but we have never had them here, and of course i hope we never do.
The bagworms ate all the foliage off my Possum Haw twice this year, they were terrible.
Josephine.
Good to know,but probably wont have to worry this north about that worm!!
Josephine,
I visited NM couple years ago. Brought home a Sophora secundiflora. I love it, there are tons of writing about how the plant does beautifully here in our local garden. And boys! Are they slow growing. I've patience, and will wait. It remain small for me but already has yielded a few flowers last year. I've seeds, yeah!!!!
Kim
Hello Kim, Congarulations!!! it is good to know that the plant will do well in zone 7, so maybe it will work outside for Tropicman, who knows, right?
Josephine.
Jo, if you haven't purused the tropical gardening forum, please let me encourage you to do so. Tman grows the most unimaginable garden in the state of Kansas. All tropicals solidly covered in his entire yard. Pots everything in the fall and puts into three GH has built himself. Absolutely incredible. Goes totally against nature and is successful at every turn. And a wry sense of humour. The entire forum is wonderful. Great place to visit while our gardens are dormant but I seem to stay there year around. Chrissy's garden in Australia is fantastic. Even the toothpicks bloom in the holder on the table. hahah Just kidding, but everything else grows over the roof and blooms from top to bottom. They are in the middle of summer so it is fun.
Christi
And then we have the under the sea threads. What nature chooses to grow under water is so gorgeous. Mike and I will be going to Maui in February to visit Braveheartsmom. I can hardly wait.
Oh Christi, can I and hubby come along? I'm working up a plan for a warm spot vacation, thought of Key West, but it's still rather cool there in Feb. isn't?
Kim
Of course, Kim. Jenny says it is the best time for the whales and their calves. Cannot believe I will actually get to see in person.
Think Carol (AlohaHoya) will be flying over from her island for a day. A little mini RU.
Ooooh how cool is that. I'll talk to hubby about the trip over dinner tonight.
Kim
p.s. Just hollered at hubby ....he answered "Why not?" Yoooohooooo.
Well, if that is the case then he should have no trouble growing the Texas Mountain Laurel. I will have to check out his garden, I always admire a job well done, and I love all the beautiful plants that God has put on this planet.
Still I concentrate on the Texas natives because they are my passion.
Josephine.
There is no doubt that our DG is populated with people passionate about our world. Everyone working to make their plot the very best they can.
Seen in one of my books that there is a variety that is also deciduous that grows in Arkansas and Tennessee. The flowers are whitish purplish! Not sure of the spelling,but I believe it was affinius,Sophora.
Also a Japanese pagoda tree is a variety of this species,which grows to 30ft there!
But the book only mentions that the Texas variety is the only that is fragrant!
I believe the one you are referring to is Eve's Necklace, Sophora affinis and yes that plant is deciduous but very different although it is related and of the same family;
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/sophoraaffinis.htm
I have one of those which i started from seed, they are both lovely.
Josephine.
Sorry, I posted the wrong link before, I don't know how that happened.
Please try it again.
This message was edited Dec 27, 2007 10:37 PM
Did yours smell like grapes?
Yes, the Texas Mountain Laurel has a very strong scent and it smells very similar to grape cool aid. It sounds strange but the scent is very pretty and pleasant.
We have two TX Mountain Laurels and we love them. I have had the tent caterpillars a couple of times. The first time I sprayed them with some chemical, which did take care of them, but 2 days later my dh was having chest pains. Yikes! He parks right next to one of them, and his EKG's and etc came back fine, so I think it was the spray. The next time I just sprayed them with the water hose and knocked them off, and it took care of them just as well without the nasty (not to mention terrifying!) side effects.
Two springs ago they bloomed so much that traffic was stopping and we had several people knock on the door to ask what they were. Last year they only bloomed on the side facing the house. Go figure. LOL
I hope yours prospers for you, Tropicman. They are such wonderful bushes. :-)
Frosty and MaryT,wow can't wait for that to come to life!!!
How many years from seed to flowering,5 to 6 years?
The one in Japan takes 30 yrs before flowering for the first time!
Thats what I'm looking for a show stopper!!!
Question does it reseed all other the place???
Well, I don't know for sure how long it takes for it to be blooming size. The one I have blooming I purchased when it was about a foot tall and it took 5 years to bloom, so I would say more like 8 years.
As far as seeding itself mine has never made much seed, so in my case no, but in a warmer climate it might do that, although you don't seed them everywhere, so that leads me to think that it doesn't.
Marylyn, what is your experience with the shrub? I suppose it s different for you since you have a warmer climate.
Josephine.
Yep, I have babies all over the place. My bushes are both in raised beds, so the seed pods fall on nice dirt. They are easy to pull, though, and not a nuisance at all. I don't know how old my bushes (really, they are small trees here) are... We've been in this house for almost 6 years, and they were here and blooming when we moved in.
Wow!! that is amazing considering that the pods and seeds are very very tough, but I guess if they lay there long enough they will soften.
I think it is so interesting that we can have such different experiences with the same plant. Don't you?
Josephine.
Well the fruit I got was some what orangey in color,and soak it overnite and the fruit came off,and then I soaked it again overnite and they plumed a little then planted them .Will see how long it takes them to germinate,being winter might take a little longer.
These are the seedpods that I've collected from my Texas Laurel. There must be several hard seeds inside. They rattle. I'll wait until spring to sow them I guess. Any thought?
My shrub/tree is but 2 feet tall roughly, and it made flowers this past summer. I'll see if I've some pics. to share later.
Kim
Well Ididn't get any seed pods only seeds if you open one,maybe the will be orange in color!
Hi all. Here is a blurb I wrote to Joan on Texas Mountain Laurel propagation by seed. Hope you find it usefull.
Joan, there are several ways to treat the mountain laurel seed. If you get them early, before they develop the really hard red shell, they will germinate pretty easy as is. Pull the pods off the tree while they still have their 'fuzzy' look, the seed will have light patches of pink to red but mostly creamy coffee color.
After they harden, it gets a little harder to do. If you only have a few to do, file or grind off a bit of the red coat. Under the red coat is a tan husk material and you want to barely expose it. This is where the seed will absorbe water. If you expose too much, the seed will take on too much water and rot.
If you have a lot of seed to do, one to one & a half hours in sulfuric acid will scarify the seed enough to plant. Be extreamly carefull with the acid method, gloves, goggles, apron, etc.
Plant the seed about 1/2" deep in a pot 6 to 8 inches deep. They put out a long tap root and do not like having the roots disturbed. They will sprout and grow to about 3 or 4 inches quickly and then stop. After this, they will grow very slowly so don't give up. Be careful not to disturb the root ball when transplanting.
Gene
I was gifted with a one gallon pot and about 10" plant this fall. Have not taken out of GH yet. Would like to plant out this Spring. Any suggestions?
I planted mine in 3 inch peat pots,hope they will be deep enough,well it will be a wait and see thing.
Thanks for the info Gene!
Frostweed, I had my first outbreak about 2 years ago. The nursery inspector and I were here and he noticed bugs on one of my mountain laurels. They were somewhat like fireflies but a little smaller, kind of a beetle thing, black with distinct red markings. I don't know if they contributed to the worms or not. I am not a 'bug person'. My first reaction is to grab a spray of some kind. Any way, I have to be vigilent now because they will destroy next years bloom almost overnight. Gene
Tropicman, I would put the entire peat pot into at least a gallon. make sure the top of the peat pot is buried, other wise they act like wicks and pull moisture from the pot. They do put down a LONG tap root and you dare not disturbe it. Gene
Lily_love, Those are the seed pods, if you open them, there is a red marble sized seed at each swollen point. Those are the seeds to which I refered. As kids, we would rub them on the sidewalk, then touch someone with the hot seed, not funny now but as kids we thought it was a ball. When the seed is pure red, they are tough. Be sure to file or grind a small area, I tried cracking them and they rot. Gene
Hello Geneivy, great information there, thank you. One thing I do instead of the acid is the boiling water bath. That is right, it won't hurt the seed, put the seed in a small container, pour boiling water on it and let it soak overnight. Then you can scar the seed by making a small cut on the opposite side of the eye, and then plant, you will have a good germination rate that way.
Josephine.
Thanks frostweed, I did not know the hot water thing would work, good to know. We do them by the hundred so it is too labor intensive and we have to do the acid bath. I don't like it because it is dangerous but we have no choice. On second thought, I could probably put 100 in a quart canning jar and do the hot water thing, I'll try it. Thanks again, Gene
You are welcome, I hope it makes things safer and easier for you.
I gather you work at a nursery, right?
frostweed, Ivy and I joined Mike Mcgroartys 'freeplants.com' about 2 years ago. We can't sell from our house due to deed restrictions but we sell to Mike's Board and do a few local farmers markets. We are more 'propagators' than nursery. We are retired and it keeps us off the couch watching Oprah. If you want to take a look, a fellow in the UK that we got some software from put up a small web site for us.
www.ideasforgardens.com/ivys
Gene
Gene, that is a most interesting site lots to check there, Congratulations!!!
So how does freeplants.com work?
This message was edited Dec 28, 2007 1:52 PM
I did soak mine in very hot water,and I took a pair of pliers and cracked one completely in half,the seed itself looked like a cashew peanut!!!!
Gene I have my peat pots in a 26 gallon plastic wash tub,where I can add water to all the time to keep the peat pots moist all the time.
Thanks for the tip,I'll be sure to keep my open for them starting to dry out.
Don