I am trespassing on the forum from central Texas Mountain Laurel grow wild on my land here and my land is alkaline caliche and limestone rubble. Limestone and caliche is their preferred soil in their native habitat.. They are slow growers at first, and then they get their feet in and they will grow at a quicker rate. I think they are developing their root system first and then they put on growth. When I grow them from seed, one has hardly anything but a root and a tiny sprout for the first year. I never water mine but we do get rain but my land drains very fast. We had 11 inches of rain for a couple of years and the bushes never noticed. They don't mind part shade here. I see them growing as an understory tree but they bloom better if they get some sun. God, that's an obvious statement. Everything blooms better with a little sun.

They are probably "Genista" caterpillars. It's a moth, and the caterpillars are unlikely to do permanent damage to the trees. Management: No management may be required on mature plants as the worms rarely consume enough foliage to damage the plant. However, young and/or newly installed plants with a small canopy may need to be protected. Handpicking is an effective control in small gardens. Here is a link that might be useful: Sophora Worms

I bought what was supposed to be mountain laurel seed back in Sept. I planted them and they started to grow pretty quick. As I do with all plants, I began to research these plants to see what the seedlings would look like and was surprised to find my seed wasnt ML after all. Could someone be so kind as to help me ID this "thing" I have been growing...lol...I know it isnt ML according to Esh's pic. Ive searched every weed site I know and every plant site I could and havent been able to ID this. Thanks! Sorry, just signed up minutes ago so I have yet to navigate the site to know how to post pics in posts. The link will take you to my photobucket for a pic of this "thing" in question Here is a link that might be useful: unknown plant/weed

My experience is the same as 'plants77'. I planted a seedling next door by a bare wall and in 10 or 12 years it is up to the roof top. The fast growth sure surprised me as I had always heard they were slow growers. By the way the soil is thin black clay over limestone. I think that is what they like best. When we moved into this house I had large wild dug Texas Mountain Laurel placed in the -ell strip. When they dug the hole, I thought -- OMG -- pure white caliche! Then when they took the burlap off the roots of the tree to plant it -- it was the same white caliche -- a perfect match! Needless to say it's done well in that spot. They may grow well in other kinds of soil too, but this is as far as my personal experience goes.