{"id":12550,"date":"2021-05-06T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T16:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=12550"},"modified":"2020-11-07T14:11:05","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T19:11:05","slug":"mountain-laurels-a-native-shrub-many-gardeners-forget-to-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2021\/05\/06\/mountain-laurels-a-native-shrub-many-gardeners-forget-to-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Laurels \u2013 A Native Shrub Many Gardeners Forget To Plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia<\/em>) is a U.S. native broadleaf evergreen shrub (USDA hardiness zone 5 \u2013 7(8)). Whether you are hiking through area woodlands or driving through Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC, flowering mountain laurels dominate the May-June landscape in Northeast Tennessee or Western North Carolina.  Mature shrub sizes range from 5 feet (dwarf cultivars) to 12 feet in height and spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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White form of mountain laurel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 30 years, mountain laurels have so improved, thanks to the breeding\nefforts of Dr. Richard Jaynes*. He has released several dozen cultivars,\nincluding dwarf forms and very colorful flowers. Some favorite varieties\ninclude \u2018Carol\u2019, \u2018Sarah\u2019, \u2018Tinkerbelle\u2019, \u2019Bullseye\u2019, \u2018Minuet\u2019, and \u2018Olympic Fire\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowers open over a two week period beginning in mid-May here in the\nSouthern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). In the wild,\nmountain laurel tends to grow near a woodland clearing. In the garden, plant in\na spot capturing partial day sunlight. Mountain laurel prospers a cool, moist,\nacidic (pH 6 or below preferred), compost-rich well drained soil. Established\nshrubs tolerate droughty soils after two years; otherwise, apply 2-3 inches of\npine bark or pine needle mulch. Avoid exposure to high wintry winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning is best performed within a few weeks after flowering is\nfinished. Prune to shape, to limit shrub height and width, and to remove dead\nor diseased twigs and branches. Feeding shrubs with an acidic water soluble\nfertilizer such as Miracle-Gro\u00ae, Hollytone\u00ae or Schultz\u00ae spurs new growth and\nflowering for next spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pink form<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mountain laurels tend to perform more reliably than rhododendrons. They grow\npoorly in poorly drained soils and are susceptible to lace bug damage on the\nspring\/summer foliage. Roots are susceptible to Phytophthora root rot. Worth\nrepeating, mountain laurels grow best on compost\u2013rich acidic soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Dr. Richard Jaynes’ book: “Kalmia: Mountain Laurel and Related\nSpecies”, 3rd ed. (Timber Press). Used copies available from Amazon Books\nonline for under $20..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia<\/em>) is a U.S. native evergreen broadleaf shrub (USDA hardiness zone 5-7 (8)). Whether you are hiking through area woodlands or driving through Biltmore Estates, flowering mountain laurels dominate the May-June natural landscape in Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina.  Mature shrub sizes range from 5 feet (dwarf cultivars) to 12 feet in height and spread. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 30 years, mountain laurels have so improved, thanks to\nbreeding efforts of Dr. Richard Jaynes*. He has released several dozen\ncultivars, including those with dwarf forms and with highly colorful\nflowers. Some favorite varieties include \u2018Carol\u2019, \u2018Sarah\u2019, \u2018Tinkerbelle\u2019, \u2019Bullseye\u2019,\n\u2018Minuet\u2019, and \u2018Olympic Fire\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowers open over a two week period beginning in mid-May here in the\nSouthern Appalachian region (USDA hardiness zones 6 and 7). In the wild,\nmountain laurel tends to grow near a woodland clearing. In the garden, plant in\na spot receiving partial day sunlight. Mountain laurel prospers a cool, moist,\nacidic (pH 6 or below preferred), compost rich soil which is well drained. Mountain\nlaurels tolerate droughty soils after two years in an pinebark or pine needle mulched\nsite. Avoid exposure to high wintry winds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pruning is best performed within a few weeks after flowering is\nfinished. Prune to shape, to limit shrub height and width, and to remove dead\nor diseased twigs and branches. Pruning and feeding with an acidic water\nsoluble fertilizer such as Miracle-Gro\u00ae, Hollytone\u00ae or Schultz\u00ae invigorates new\ngrowth and flowering the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain laurels tend to perform more reliably than rhododendrons. While\nseveral plant maladies are possible, mountain laurels grow poorly in poorly\ndrained soils and lace bug damage on the spring\/summer foliage. Their roots are\nsusceptible to Phytophthora root rot. Plants grow best on compost\u2013rich soil<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Dr. Richard Jaynes’ book: “Kalmia: Mountain Laurel and Related\nSpecies”, 3rd ed. (Timber Press). Used copies available from Amazon Books\nonline for under $20..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a U.S. native broadleaf evergreen shrub (USDA hardiness zone 5 \u2013 7(8)). Whether you are hiking through area woodlands or driving through Biltmore Estates in Asheville, NC, flowering mountain laurels dominate the May-June landscape in Northeast Tennessee or Western North Carolina.  Mature shrub sizes range from 5 feet (dwarf cultivars) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,657,1319,1351,605,1037,778,674,800,665,10,1525,853,738,551,1476,627,1518,843,601,729,777,630,705,646,7,113,455,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12553,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12550\/revisions\/12553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}