I am so excited and happy. I think I have germinated what I believe to be a Tx. Mt. Laurel . Although I am not sure which variety it would be I am leaning toward the Hill Country variety based on the local that it came from.. The mature tree was about 8-10 ft. tall. Extremely dark blue clusters of flowers with an overwhelmingly heavy sweet smell. Red berry like seeds a little darker and harder than dogwood berries, which I have read are toxic. So does this sound like Tx. Mt. Laurel? Is the plant that I have?? Read these posts about three months ago followed the directions you all gave for lightly sanding the edge of my seed. Put it in lightly moist soil with with a good mix of Black Kow compost.Placed it in semi-shade until it started to harden off. Now I have a healthy new plant about 4 inches tall. Tghe new leaves look almost like young mistletoe leaves. Amazingly enough my seeds were gathered between 2005-2006 when I was visiting my son in Belton,Tx. near Salado. I have had them in a dish inside the China Cabinet as souviners since them, but decided to give them a try after reading the experiences here on the Gardenweb. I am now deciding where to put it before winter comes. After reading all the postings on temperature tolerances, I am thinking I need a pot that can be rolled in and outseasonally perhaps. I am in the Carolina Coastal Plain in Zone 8, but not too far from Zone 7. We routinely get temps in the thirties through the winter with it dipping on occassion into the twenties and teens for brief periods.Has anyone else had success wintering them over outside here? I haven't noticed anyone specifically mentioning the strong sweet smell of the blossoms.. We found them way too sweet for indoor cut flowers. I was worried about that as a house plant, but it appears as slow as it grows and matures, will be a while before I have to consider that problem. Any other pointers and tips before deciding to commit myself to outside or inside in this Zone???

All of these plants have fairly shallow root systems. So if the ground freezes solid, they can't move water to prevent winterburn. Jaynes, the Connecticut mountain laurel guru, recommends that they need at least some screening from winter sun, but that the shade from leafless deciduous trees is adequate. I have a line of box in my backyard, and the end that is lightly shaded by a large oak comes through much better than the end closer to the tree where the sun comes straight under the canopy. Remember that winter sun angles are much lower, so depending on how far the line of deciduous trees is from the new plants, they may not get any direct, full bore sun during the winter. If you are going to play around with any of these plants, try to get a soil pH test done. These are acid loving plants, and can get very tricky to grow if the soil conditions aren't right.

I found this (keep the seeds away from children and pets): Re: Texas Mountain Laurel seeds From: Reid Category: Texas Native Plants Date: 29 Dec 2001 Time: 18:47:36 Remote Name: 208.152.131.249 Comments Growing a mtn. laurel from seed is not hard at all. Remove the seeds from the pods as soon as they are red and hard (anytime from mid-summer on)now the "trick" to getting them to germinate is to nick the seed, I just use a file to cut thru the seed coat till you just get to the white,not to much now you just need the seed to be able to take in water so it can start the germintion process. After I nick the seed I will soak them in water or better yet in some seaweed and water for a few hours (till I see the seed start to swell up) them all you have to do is plant your seeds about 1/2inch deep keep moist but not wet don't let them freeze (you will get more and faster results if your soil is warm)stand back and you should have young seedlings in no time at all. For more details you should look at Jill Nokes book how to grow native plants of texas and the southwest. good luck and have fun. Reid

remove the red seeds from the shell because sometimes - actually most of the time little critters bury themselves in there and this way you get rid of them before they cause damage to your seeds. That's been my experience with Texas Laurel. Much luck, Flora