Caption
Gorgeous leathery leaves from the Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) herb plant.
Meet the plant that’s both kitchen royalty and garden eye candy! Bay laurel—yes, the same one that flavors your soups and stews—has been prized since ancient times for its glossy good looks and legendary aroma.
Whether you’re trimming it into a tidy topiary or plucking fresh bay leaves for dinner, this Mediterranean beauty proves that practicality and elegance can absolutely share the same pot.
Laurus nobilis is a half-hardy perennial that grows into a sizable tree in its native Mediterranean climate (up to 60 feet tall!), but it’s only hardy in USDA Zones 8 and up. It’s often grown in a container in Zones 7 and down. Its slow growth means it can stay in a pot as a patio or houseplant for decades. It needs to be brought indoors in the winter.
Although this plant family (Lauraceae) is fairly small, it provides some of the most beautiful and fragrant herbs. If you cook often, I’m sure you’ll find that at least one of every ten recipes for soups, stews, and baked dishes calls for a bay leaf. Bay leaves provide a deep flavor in dishes that can’t be found in other herbs. It’s one of a kind.
Regular pruning and shaping are necessary to keep your bay laurel manageable, especially if it is grown in a container. If outside, bay laurels can be pruned into a pretty topiary, planted as a privacy hedge, or grown as a small tree in an herb garden. Its evergreen leaves and dark bark make it attractive in winter and shade gardens.
Bay laurel trees are dioecious, meaning some are male and some are female. Each produces blossoms, but it’s necessary to have both male and female trees available for pollination to produce small berries. The berries aren’t used for culinary purposes.
Songbirds are attracted to bay laurel for both the berries and shelter, thanks to its thick canopy. However, it’s toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. It is not poisonous to humans.
Harvesting
Your bay laurel looks terrific in a container as a small shrub or in the ground as a larger tree, but let’s face it—you’re probably growing it for the leaves so that you can harvest them and put them to use in your next cooking adventure. It’s super easy to harvest and use bay leaves. Remember: the leaves are used for flavoring, not for eating. You’ll add the leaves during the cooking process to allow them to impart their flavor, but then remove the leaves prior to eating the dish.
- Once your bay tree is at least 2 years old, you can begin harvesting the leaves for culinary purposes.
- Picking bay leaves during the summer can produce maximized flavor, but the University of California notes they can be harvested year-round.
- Harvest mature bay leaves that are a vivid dark green—not small young leaves. Larger leaves have more flavor.
- Using your homegrown leaves ensures freshness that packs the best taste.
- Many people find that bay leaves add a delightful—though subtle—herbal flavor to dishes. It’s been described as herby, floral, clove-like, eucalyptus-like, and smoky!
- Many cooks place whole dried bay leaves right into their soups, stews, pastas, or other slow-cooking dishes, allowing the flavors to seep in slowly. The whole leaves are removed before serving since they won’t soften enough during cooking to be palatable.
- Bay leaves taste more pungent when fresh and sweeter when dried. Often dried grocery store bay leaves have lost their flavor if kept too long; try drying your own!
- Bay laurel is also used to add flavor to pickles.
- For an extra flavor punch, some cooks prefer ground bay leaves. If you grind your own, they must be ground to an extremely fine powder—small pieces of bay leaf can be very sharp and gritty.
Types
To grow for culinary use, you want the straight species, Laurus nobilis. There are some cultivars but those were developed with more of an emphasis on appearance.
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