Texas Mountain Laurel - A White Variety

Every year, a few of the Texas mountain laurels show up with pale purple or whitish blooms.    They are such an oddity that they get snatched up quickly. 

I happen to be a sucker for white flowers -  I think it was the white roses in The Great Gatsby when I was a teenager that did it  -  I just relate white flowers with romance.   But don't you love how white blooms almost glow in the moonlight.  

Well, last spring, we had a mountain laurel that bloomed white, white, WHITE!   We've marked it and will begin playing with the seeds this year.   There isn't much written on white blooming Texas mountain laurels.  We've heard that they cross-pollinate so there's no guarantee what color trees produced from seed will bloom.   We're still deciding on the perfect isolated spot to transplant her - and since we hope she's a big part of our little nursery, we do need to find a name for her.    All suggestions are welcome! 

Texas Mountain Laurels

What a wonderful central Texas native!   Dark green, glossy leaves and an irresistable purple bloom in the spring.   I just wish it bloomed longer.  Each trees bloom period is about 2-3 weeks.    The seedpods will contain a dark red, poisonous seed.    The seedcoat is extremely hard; in nature it may take a few years before they sprout.   Here in the nursery, we have our ways to push them along. . . .

Texas mountain laurels have become a hot commodity in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.  They are equally loved in the Rio Grande Valley.  They tolerate many types of soil - just be sure it's well-drained.  Mountain laurel do not like wet feet!   

Once established this is a great Xeriscape plant.  It handles underwatering better than overwatering.

Remnants of Hurricane Dolly

Today, we're harvesting short Texas mountain laurels - ones that are 3 and 4 feet tall.   Most dug really nicely, but this one pulled right out of the ground.  The folliage looks healthy, doesn't it? 

Turn it upside down to get a good look and the roots and you see its problem - there are virtually NO ROOTS! 

Two years ago the mountain laurels in this field were an average of 6 feet tall - then Hurricane Dolly paid us a visit.  Heavy winds battered the trees for hours and nearly half of this field died.  The remainder looked shabby and a bit necrotic.  Every time we had strong winds, the remaining trees stressed.   And Harlingen has strong winds on a pretty regular basis.   We decided a heavy pruning might help.   It's now been 20 months since the hurricane and most of this field have recovered nicely.  - but occassionally, we come across one like this.    I still can't imagine how that root system has been supporting this fairly decent looking little tree.  Go figure.

We were happy to see that after harvesting 40, this was the only one with this problem! 

Harvest Time

I loved arriving to work after a few days on the road to see the Texas Mountain Laurel harvest well under way!    This is about a third of December's orders.  

The field is a little bit wetter than we would like - but everyone is being extra careful not to break a rootball. So far, so good!     These will get cured for 3-4 weeks before they are ready to be loaded on trucks and head out - mainly to the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Rain is in the forecast for this evening and tomorrow - I can't believe I'm saying this, but I sure hope it misses us!

Texas Mountain Laurels

Simmons Oak Farms can't wait to begin harvesting this year's crop of Texas Mountain Laurels, Sophora secundaflora.  They are still putting on fresh growth so we'll wait another couple of weeks.    This years crop looks great -  full trees with lots of bloom stems.   Most should bloom heavily this spring.  Your customers will love that!  Imagine how stunning this tree will look when all these stems are covered with clusters of purple flowers.

These are the bloom stems

If you haven't placed your order  yet, give us a call!

Wordless Wednesday - Dreaming of Spring

Ordering Your Texas Mountain Laurels

Simmons Oak Farms sells our Texas Mountain Laurels (Sophora secundaflora) by the foot in overall height. At the EXPO last week-end, a few people people wanted to know whether there is much difference in the fullness of the trees at different heights. That led us out into the field this morning to take a few pictures. You will have to judge for yourself what your customers want - me, I'm all about the big material!

The first picture shows Tony with a 7' Mountain Laurel. The pole is flagged at 5', 6', and 7'. You may need to double click the shot, in order to see the flags clearly. Anyhow, there are multiple branches that measure 7' - not just one or two. We sure don't want our customers to feel that we "fudged" on measuring.


This second picture shows a Texas Mountain Laurel that is just below the 5' mark. That makes is not yet ready for the market.

But these trees are still putting on new growth - they'll look even better when we begin to harvest in November.

To see all the pictures we took this morning (including examples of our 6' and 8' Texas Mountain Laurels), click here.