By Anita Westervelt, Texas Master Naturalist
The calendar may not say it’s spring just yet, but the trees are talking with the news that winter’s over in the Deep South of Texas.
The planets must have come into perfect alignment this year because the persnickety purple clusters of highly fragrant, early-spring-blooming Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) are bursting into bloom amongst their glossy, dark green leaves.
Last year at this time, many folks waited in vain for the Texas mountain laurels to bloom in Hugh Ramsey Nature Park. Not so this year!
When in full bloom, the flower clusters are reminiscent of lilac or wisteria, from a distance. They are so fragrant, though, it’s recommended to leave them on the tree where they can attract butterflies and bees, instead of smelling up the house where they will only have to be removed once their heady scent permeates the enclosed space.
Texas mountain laurel is native from central Texas west to New Mexico and south to San Luis Potosi, in east central Mexico. The plants are available locally from commercial nurseries and native plant growers. While somewhat slow growing, they can grow to 10 to 35 feet, but generally top out at about 15 feet in our area.
Now is a good time to purchase this tree, especially if the nursery stock is four to five feet tall and the plants are blooming in their pots. You may want to keep your purchase in the pot until the blooms begin to wither so as not to shock the flowers into fading too quickly. When planting, do water it in well and then a couple of times a week for the first month or two to help the plant establish.
Fertilizing and a steady water regimen will help the young shrubs grow faster but will retard the production of blooms by as long as five years. No one wants to wait that long to experience the awesome show of this native beauty.
Location is important. Good drainage is a must. The tree’s native habitat is dry, rocky, well-drained, brushy slopes and open plains. It’s common in limestone soils, but will grow in well-drained sand, loam, clay, caliche and limestone soils.
The plant’s drought-tolerant trait makes it an excellent selection for a xeriscape garden in South Texas; drought usually will not kill it, while too much moisture, in poorly drained soil, probably will.
Full sun is essential for ensuring blooms.
Pruning your Texas mountain laurel is rarely advisable. The growth pattern, even when left as a multi-stemmed shrub, is not unruly. The flower stalks form on silvery stems. Indeed, do not trim off those. Texas mountain laurel also is called mescal bean. After blooming, the fruit is a black bean pod about five inches long, which contains red-orange seeds. The seeds are sometimes used for jewelry, however, this beautiful plant comes with a strong warning. Both seeds and flowers are highly poisonous and contain narcotic and hallucinogenic properties. This may sound like a fun plant to experiment with, but it is impossible to regulate dosage and more often than not, the results are tragically fatal.