Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Thursday - June 19, 2014
From: Georgetown, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Trees
Title: Why didn't the mountain laurels bloom this year in Georgetown, TX?
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Why are the mountain laurels not blooming this year, I live in Georgetown, TX?ANSWER:
If you check with Wunderground.com for Georgetown's minimum temperatures for the first of March 2014, you will see that on March 2 it was 24°F, March 3 was 19°F and March 4 was 28°F. Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel) begins forming flower buds in February and generally blooms by late February and early March. The extended low temperatures in early March in Central Texas froze many of the buds before they could open. The mountain laurel in my yard in Austin had only a couple of blossoms that managed to bloom and I didn't see but a few small blossoms anywhere in my neighborhood. Hopefully, next year they will have a better chance at blooming.
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