Its lush purple flowers have a strong grapelike fragrance that permeates the area around the plant. Texas Mountain Laurel is a native evergreen shrub that can be trained as a multi-trunked small tree. Texas Mountain Laurel Sophora secundiflora. They’ll do well in clay, loam, and sand, and will tolerate being planted in or near turf.
Shiny evergreen leaves and drooping clusters of lavender flowers make Texas mountain laurel popular in warm regions. Texas mountain laurel is technically a multistem shrub, but if yours looks like a singe-trunk tree, it was pruned early to form that shape. Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora), also known as mescal bean, is an attractive evergreen shrub that grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 11. It is known for its attractive, fragrant flowers and its extreme drought hardiness. Texas mountain laurel is a tough evergreen shrub or small tree native to Mexico and the American Southwest. Texas mountain laurel prefers alkaline, well-drained rocky soils, including those that contain limestone.
Sku #7100. Commonly grown as a shrub, it also can be pruned into a small tree. D. secundiflorum will also tolerate light shade for part of the day. Keep reading to learn more about growing Texas mountain laurels in the landscape. How to Grow. This multi-stemmed evergreen is excellent for use as a large shrub or small tree. It can be pruned to keep it shrub-like. This hard as nails, extremely drought tolerant Texas native (can survive on a partly 14 inches of annual rain) will grace any landscape with its presence.
Some people find the fragrance overwhelming. Spacing/Spread: 6′ – 14 ... “If there is one Texas native, small growing, flowering tree you can’t go wrong with, it’s of course a Texas Mountain Laurel. Choose a planting site in an area that gets full sun. Slow growing and easily trained as espalier or a patio tree.
While it can reach 30’ tall if given lots of water, it usually holds in the more manageable and desirable 10’ to 15’ range and gets about 10’ wide. Fragrant violet-blue flowers in terminal clusters create a wonderful display in spring against the backdrop of shiny dark green foliage. Best of all, its an evergreen!