Round Robin: Bay Laurel - A Classic Beauty
Notes from Regional Herb Gardeners
December/January 2003
By Geraldine Adamich Laufer
ATLANTA, Georgia—A plant of classical fame, bay (Laurus nobilis) crowned scholars and poet laureates (it is the source of the “berries of laurel” that give the baccalaureate degree its name), distinct from victorious generals, who wore circlets of oak. Bay is a half-hardy, woody shrub in Atlanta, often grown in large tubs on patios or decks. Half-hardy means that during a cold snap (around 5 to 8 degrees), I drag the plants into the garage until the temperature behaves itself and climbs back into the 30s. Sometimes, oversized plants are planted in a protected spot in the garden and behave like camellias, dying back during severe winters and sprouting again from the roots.
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The shiny, evergreen, pointed and fragrant bay leaves prefer some shade. I have two large, shrubby plants on our deck, and I’m able to pick fresh leaves whenever I do a shrimp boil or want to add rich, herbal flavor to a hearty wintertime beef stew. They are also great as a long-lasting sprig of greenery in an impromptu corsage.
In addition to my other bays, I’m attempting to grow a standard bay laurel; this summer its single trunk shot up to six feet. I’m vigilant about keeping side branches from sprouting along the trunk, and last June I pulled off seven green-wood stems, each with a heel of tissue from the mother trunk. Although bay is notorious for its difficulty to root, I had to try.
I filled a recycled Styrofoam box (formerly used for shipping grapes) to the brim with my favorite rooting medium: equal parts by volume of vermiculite, perlite and milled sphagnum moss. Each component gives a different quality to the mix: Vermiculite and ground sphagnum moss absorb moisture; perlite creates air spaces.