To paraphrase Richard Jaynes in his definitive book on kalmias: Mountain laurels form thier flower buds in late summer on the current season's growth. If the seed capsules are not removed, there will be no new shoot growth from that point. No new shoots = no flower buds. There's also some evidence that the ripening seed capsules produce a hormone which translocates throughout the plant and inhibits flower bud formation. Without deadheading, Jaynes says mountain laurels - especially the modern varieties (most of which he developed)- tend to be every other year bloomers. Large mountain laurels have enough growth points to bloom every year without deadheading, but the new flower buds will not be found where old dried seed capsules remain from the previous year.

I have a night blooming jasmine that puts out a branch or two every year that has that interesting very flat shape. It blooms as well as the other limbs. Back to Texas Mountain Laurels: I did prune mine in summer 2010 to remove the leggy falling over limbs. It has a much better shape, now, and is blooming profusely for the first time is years. Mine does not get much sun and usually has only a couple of small blooms. I wonder if the drought helped it. But I know much of its root zone was watered by my neighbor's sprinkler system (it's almost on the property line), and they didn't change their watering habits.

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.

kimivu: TML has a reputation for being difficult to transplant because transplanting a 5' tree tends to leave roots behind. The tree dedicated years to getting those roots established, and it resents having them disturbed/chopped off during the transplanting process. To optimize the procedure, dig deeply around the tree outside the drip line before attempting to lift the root ball. Years ago, I was part of a four-man crew that transplanted a six-footer. Once we had dug to 2' deep all around the tree, each of us used our shovels simultaneously to leverage the root ball out of the ground. I can't promise that we didn't leave any roots behind, but the tree survived in its new home. Back then, we weren't aware of the benefits of liquified seaweed when transplanting, so we used plain old tap water. Drenching the soil with 1 oz/1 gal seaweed once a week helps any species overcome transplantation shock, and you can use it any time of year. Despite these measures, if you notice any part of the transplanted tree suffering from stress, remove it to compensate for root loss. Finally, it takes a while for TML to recover and reestablish its roots, so you may not see any top growth for 2-3 years.