Season Four, Episode 00173
Botanical Latin Names: Lauris nobilis ‘Little Ragu’
Having a Sweet Bay bush in the garden has been a semi-backburner focus of mine for years. The high cost per unit and difficulties in citing the plants have stalled out plans for just as long unfortunately. Finally though, (Not a plug!) a certain grower who will only get mentioned in the video came through with offering a more compact but not undersized or dwarf version of the perennial seasoning I was seeking for so long. This is not bashing dwarf varieties of things but when it comes to sweet bay which is already not the fastest grower, and considering the low cost options are often a poorly rooted 6” stick that will take years to yield any useful leaves; well no dwarfs allowed this time. So, Sweet Bay or Bay leaf is that magical spice whose aroma in cooking if the leaves are still green cannot be put into words. The dried leaves are nice, but this is one of the few spices where fresh is best and unfortunately that too costs some cash. So folks if you’ve not had the delight of having a Sweet Bay in your yard I absolutely recommend it.
LITFM Garden shorts are intended as a series of short videos highlighting a specific plant/family in the Botanical Testing Gardens. The Gardens are located in North Carolina (Zone 8a). Hopefully this video gives you some good garden ideas and if you have questions or comments let me know.
The Blog is here: http://bl2-litfm.blogspot.com/
Music Reference: Sweet Child O’ Mine By Guns and Roses
1 Comment
This was great, super informative. I had no idea Bay Laurel was so expensive or to even try it fresh; I had dried some out actually. My in-laws gifted me a cutting last year that I just left outside all winter in zone 7b central NC and while it did defoliate completely it's now coming back. You've inspired me to take better care of it… Mine is a bit of a stick tho and not nearly as branched out as your little guy!