How to Grow Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia)

If you are lucky enough to visit the Blue Ridge Mountains in late May when the wild mountain laurel blooms, you are in for a spectacular show.

It has been several years since I moved from western North Carolina up to Vermont, but when spring comes around I still pine for mountain laurel blooming season in the Smokies.

Fortunately for me, it is possible to recreate this incredible sight in the home garden.

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Read on to learn all about growing mountain laurel in the landscape.

With beautiful evergreen foliage and spectacular springtime displays of flowers, mountain laurel can take any landscape design to the next level.

It is perfect for borders, backdrops, and living hedges.

If you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9, you can easily grow mountain laurel in your garden.

This plant should not be confused with Texas mountain laurel, Dermatophyllum secundiflorum, a member of the pea family.

Mountain laurels are native to the eastern United States. These woody shrubs belong to the Ericaceae family, and they are related to blueberries, rhododendrons, and azaleas.

K. latifolia has been cultivated since the early 18th century, at which time it was introduced to England as an ornamental plant for flower gardens.

Around 80 cultivars have since been developed, many originating in the 1960s at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station by Dr. Richard A. Jayes, a horticulturalist devoted to studying mountain laurel.

These beautiful shrubs are famous for their clusters of pink or white flowers with small distinct markings. They bloom in late