Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Sunday - May 20, 2012
From: Lancaster, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Planting, Poisonous Plants, Trees
Title: Growing a Texas Mountain Laurel in Pennsylvania
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
Can I grow a Texas Mt. Laurel in Lancaster, PA?ANSWER:
This is one of those questions we could just answer with "no," and let it go at that. If you follow this link to the USDA Plant Profile Map for Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel) you will see that it is native only to New Mexico and Texas. There are a number of reasons why trying to plant this plant in Pennsylvania would probably fail.
1. Habitat. If you follow the plant link above to our webpage on this tree, you will note this statement:
"Native evergreen ornamental tree within its range, valued for its handsome, dark green foliage and lush early spring blooms. It is drought-tolerant, prefers rocky limestone soil, and is native from central Texas west to New Mexico and south to San Luis Potosi in Mexico."
2. Temperature: Lancaster County is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b, with average minimum annual temperatures of -10 to -5 deg. F. The Texas Mountain Laurel grows in Zones 7b to 10b.
3. Soils. Most soils in Pennsylvania are acidic. Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel) grows commonly in limestone soils, which are alkaline.
Warning: The brilliant red seeds contain the highly poisonous alkaloid cytisine (or sophorine) - this substance is related to nicotine and is widely cited as a narcotic and hallucinogen. If that is why you want to grow this plant, we don't want to know about it.
From the Image Gallery
More Trees Questions
Is a Mexican plum planted last Spring in Houston ready to bloom
April 08, 2011 - I live in Houston, TX. I bought my Mexican Plum last late Spring. It was about 4' tall. It is now about 6' tall, very healthy with lots of beautiful leaves. It gets a lot of sun. It did not blo...
view the full question and answer
Disappearance of leaves on desert willow in Tucson AZ
August 08, 2009 - We have a Lois Adams Desert Willow (Tucson, Az). The leaves will pump out and then a day or so later, all of the leaves are gone. The only bugs we've seen on it are very, very small ants. Could this ...
view the full question and answer
Will hand pollination of red plum tree result in fruits?
February 24, 2014 - Red Plum is blooming but no bees to pollinate & no associate plum trees near by. Can flowers be pollinated by hand with q-tip?
view the full question and answer
Problem with baldcypress tree
May 27, 2011 - Two of my three 20 year old Bald Cypress trees appear to have leafed out but are now brown in parts of the tree. The brown area is at the tops of the trees which are probably 40 ft. high. They were...
view the full question and answer
How fast do trees grow?
September 03, 2008 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants
I would like to know how to tell how much a tree will grow if the average of the trees are growing at the rate of approximately 3 to 3.5% annually. And how do they come up wi...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |