Where does laurel grow? ...

How do you find a decent/reliable gardener?
Answers:    "Kalmia latifolia, or Mountain Laurel, is a beautiful evergreen shrub explicitly native to the Eastern United States."
http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/laurel.h...

This Arbor Day zone map shows the areas where on earth Mountain Laurel can grow in Zone 4 - 9 (Some sites resembling this one, & the one above, say it can grow surrounded by Zone 4 planted up against a building or trees where it's sheltered & get some winter protection).
http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/...

They need some sun for flower nouns, but not a lot, & will grow within semi-shady areas. Laurel grows in sharp humusy, loamy, moist, rich, well drained soil basically like Azaleas & Rhododendron & can be planted near them.
http://landscaping.almost.com/cs/shrubsbu...

Mountain Laurel grows slowly...
less than 12 inches a year.
They are "home-grown to dry rocky woodlands, slopes, & streambanks from Florida to Canada."
http://hgic.clemson.edu/pdf/hgic1069.pdf
How cold be it at Valley Forge?
i have see it growing wild contained by west virginia