Grape-scented explosion of Texas mountain laurels

March 15, 2018


It’s Bloom Day, and Austin is abloom right now in Texas mountain laurel grapiness.


Grapiness, you ask? Yes! Purple blossoms that draw comparisons to wisteria hang from every glossy-leaved branch and scent the air with the fragrance of grape Kool-Aid. It’s magical when Texas mountain laurels (Sophora secundiflora) are in bloom across the city, brightening even pedestrian parking lots.


This is the flowering tree that made me fall in love with Austin during a springtime house-hunting trip 23 years ago.


Every time I walk by one I have to stick my nose in the flowers and inhale.


Last year’s crop of red seeds lay strewn in the gravel under one tree. They’re pretty, like red beads, but toxic if eaten.


This office parking lot on Far West Boulevard went all-in with Texas mountain laurels in their landscaping, and the effect when they bloom is like floating in a grape-soda-scented cloud.


Dazzling!

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10 responses to “Grape-scented explosion of Texas mountain laurels”

  1. Austin is a beautiful city any time of the year, but those Mountain Laurels make it even more so. Wonderful!
    Happy Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!

  2. Lisa at Greenbow says:

    It appears that you could get high on that grapeness. Beautiful!

  3. Peter says:

    So beautiful! I can only imagine that the scent is equally fabulous. Happy GBBD, Pam!

  4. Kris P says:

    I remember seeing those in your posts before but I didn’t remember looking up the plant, much less finding that it’s one that should grow in my region too. However, I can’t recall ever seeing it sold here. I wonder why? I’ll have to mount a bonafide search.

  5. Ali says:

    Wow! I had not heard of this; it sounds delightful! I would love to see it in person one day and smell the fragrance. Love the pea-like flowers.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      It’s one of our most stunning native plants here in central Texas, Ali, handsome in all seasons but glorious in early spring. —Pam

  6. Andrea says:

    Yes Pam they are indeed dazzling and spectacular. I remember something like that when I first saw jacaranda trees in Sydney.

  7. Rose says:

    Simply gorgeous! I can almost smell the grapey fragrance as I scroll through these photos.