PlantFiles: Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia

There are no shrubs more beautiful than Laurels. Their buds are usually deeper in color than the blooms. There are closed buds and opened blooms at the same time, giving a wonderful show of various colors for several weeks. The glossy dark evergreen foliage is very handsome. The deep red budded varieties are spectacular. They can be quite tricky to grow. I keep moving them to different locations and eventually I find a spot where they flourish. They definitely seem to prefer semi shade and good drainage.

We just bought a house with some very dishevled shrubs in both the front and back yards. Today, we took a pruner to the two large azaleas. I assumed this plant was a Rhodie but does look different than the one out back. I found a nursery tag attached to one of the lower branches and sure enough, it's a Kalmia latifolia.

This plant has been a bit of a nuisance only because we have really bad spider problems and they love the shrubs in the yard. It has a great shape and blooms a very vibrant hot pink with somewhat white centers. I don't think it bloomed longer than a few weeks in June right around when we moved in.

I'm having a hard time researching how to care for this plant. Right now, it has all the brown pods that are completely dry. I just knocked a bunch of them off with the hose while washing out the spiders, but other than that, don't know if I should prune it or what.

A friend gave me a young plant he dug up from his property a few miles away, as a house warming gift 26 years ago.
Seven years later I moved and took it with me. It is now on the east side of the house and gets just under half a days full sun. I do very little for it except water it in times of drought.
It never fails to give a striking display in June. I love the complexity of the flowers, their shape and colorings.
Rather slow growing but your patience will be rewarded. It now stands about 8 feet tall and 5 wide.
Andy P

I've started a small native plant nursery here in central NJ. Mountain laurel is found growing wild in this area on the poorer sandy type soils such as the Pine Barens. Unfortunately I can't find any young shrubs to offer my customers. The wild ones are impossible do dig out of the woods successfully and comercial nurseries don't offer the slow growing less showy plant. Any suggestions?

I have 4 different varieties of this shrub - and I love them all!! Two are dwarfs: "Little Linda" has red buds and nice pink blooms. 21/2' - 3'all and wide after 10 yrs. The other mini is "Tiddlywinks" with darker pink buds opening to very light pink blooms with a very pretty starburst pattern in white inside each little bloom...beautiful!! It is the same size as "Linda". The two full-sized are: "Olympic Wedding" with light pink buds and white blooms that have a very distinct maroon-burgandy ring inside. And last but not least is "Olympic Fire" with its dark red buds opening to very light pink blossoms that fade to white inside. The "Olympic" sisters grow to 4' - 6' tall and wide.
All have lovely dark green, glossy foliage that is a gorgeous backdrop for the unique little buds and blooms.

In darker areas, it will grow tall and more spindly; it tends to be bushier in greater amounts of light, and blooms more. It's not really a full-sun plant, though it will do well in a fair bit of sun in SE PA so long as it's not too dry. It can handle fairly dry if the sunlight is controlled. Grows fairly well in poorish well-drained soils.

The branches tend to be very interesting looking as well; often bonsai-ish.

Lots of varieties - peppermint has red stripes on the inside, Yankee Doodle has red buds, and Sarah has bright red buds and pinkish-red flowers (closest to pure red out there).

For best growth and flowers, deadhead after blooming.

Deer will eat it in winter if under population pressure or if there's a low food supply, especially if they get in the habit of it. Repeated deer damage will kill it.

This is PA's state bush. It can be difficult to start but once established it's a nice bush. Some northern winters are tough on them but simply trim and they do fine.

I am becoming interested in Native Plants. My husband and I traveled to "Briarwood" which is Caroline Dormon's Nature Preserve, located in the western area of Central Louisiana. The first plant we noticed was the mountain laurel. We definitely want to add this to our collection of plants, and found that it is available at some nurseries, but we were advised that we should determine that it is from the southern variety.

These plants were very healthy and in full bloom.

In the Texas hill country these plants are attacked by small yellow worms from spring to summer. The worms only eat the new growth and are controlled with Cygon 2-E.

I love this plant. They grow wild here in the mountains. I don't think they do well in hotter climates. An interesting note, locals call this ivy, but I don't know why. They often cut the tops out, bundle them and ship them north to wholesale florists. They call this activity "breaking ivy." Of course, this plant is not related to ivy at all.
Another interesting colloquilism: botanists call the tops of mountains covered in mountain laurel and rhoderdendron, "Heath Balds" but locally they are called "Laurel Slicks."

Seeds germinate best when sown in pure peat.

Flowers May - July
Habitat: Moist soils, rocky woods and swamps
Range: Eastern United States
Leaf elliptical, leathery, evergreen
Flowers starlike, deep pink to white, with 5 fused petals