Mountain laurel
By: Garden Gate staff
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Must-have mountain laurel
In plenty of sun, drought-tolerant, versatile ‘Silver Dollar’ mountain laurel will have a compact habit and more flowers. Growing in shade, its habit will be looser, like at left.
No matter which look you prefer, give mountain laurel good drainage and soil pH between 5 and 5.5. If soil test results for your garden are slightly above that, you can work a couple inches of peat moss into the top 8 to 12 inches of soil at planting time.
Just keep in mind this shrub is slow-growing — it can take 10 years for ‘Silver Dollar’ to go from 3 to 5 feet tall. But getting more clusters of these delicate flowers is worth the wait! For a closer look at the blooms, click ahead.
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Pretty in late spring
‘Silver Dollar’, a cultivar of the native shrub, has bigger flowers that bloom pale pink in late spring. The flowers last for about two weeks, fading to mostly white, like in the photo at left. Its evergreen foliage, held on arching, twisted branches, is deep green in spring and bronze in winter.
Type Shrub
Blooms Pink and white in late spring
Light Full sun to part shade
Soil Well-drained, humus-rich, acid
Pests None serious
Size 5 to 10 ft. tall and wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 5 to 9
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 9 to 1
Source Local garden centers
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