I have planted many of them in pots and am not aware of any special fungi necessary for them. I also have them growing in the ground. I planted them as seed over 20 years ago. There is a local grower here that also raises them with no special amendments. Maybe I'm missing something but it hasn't given me a problem yet.

I never heard that either. I have them come up in the garden. I either leave them where the sprouted or repot them for friends.

I saw them growing in a median in Skokie, Ill. That was surprising.

This is all good news! It is likely that I am gullible...but so is the hort. passed along what he was told.

I got one in a 4 inch pot this spring. It's now about a foot tall with bright green leaves. I have a tomato cage around it to keep my dog from running over it. I plan to fill the cage with pecan leaves after the Laurel loses its leaves. Does this sound reasonable? Any idea what sort of growth I might expect next year?

Y'all are the Very Best!
c

c

Cynthia, there are several growing around Keller. I start them in gal. pots with nothing other than taking a file to
etch a line or two in the hard shell. Have great success in getting them to come up. They ARE slow growers tho.

A TML is evergreen so it should not lose its leaves even in your zone. What it really needs is good drainage so packing leaves around would not be good for it since they really don't like anything damp around them especially against the trunk or roots.

I've never heard of it needing special dirt. These are native plants that pop up like weeds around here and the less attention they get, the better they grow. The ones here have gone through lows in the teens, freezing rain and snow and never lose a leaf. They have come through a two year drought with very little signs of stress.

They are evergreen and do not drop their leaves. No need to do anything. One that came up the spring of 08 is now 2 ft. tall.
The easiest way to get them to sprout is to pick them before the pod hardens and plant the seed when it is just beginning to turn red. Of course that only works if you have a seed source.

Kathy

Cynthia, are you meaning Kalmia latifolia - the Mountain Laurel that is the state flower of Pennsylvania? That one gets a fungal leaf spot. Or sophora secundiflora the Texas Mountain Laurel? I grow that one. Mine is 7-8ft tall and has lots of babies that have sprouted from the seeds that fall. No special soil, but one of the driest spots in my garden. I do irrigate, but this is a corner spot by the driveway and street. It took quite a few years for it to grow this prolifically, but I certainly didn't baby it. I think yours will do fine in its tomato cage until it gets some size on it.