Master Gardener Ann Bartlett tells gardeners a little about using the bay laurel perfectly season fall dishes and refresh indoor spaces.
Bay laurels remind Ann of a cozy fall at home: "My mother had a bay tree in her back yard, and she would pick the leaves as needed."
As the weather turns cooler, I love to spend time in the kitchen. One herb I always keep in the pantry is bay leaf. Adding one or two leaves to a simmering soup pot creates a distinctive albeit subtle earthy undertone. (Be sure to remove the leaves before serving.)
The leaves are very high in antioxidants and are thought to reduce inflammatory response. In traditional medicine, they were used to treat arthritis.
Bay is sometimes called “sweet bay” or laurel. The botanical name is Laurus nobilis. This small tree was sacred to Apollo. His shrine at Delphi was roofed in laurel wood to protect against disease, witchcraft, and lightning. (You never know when big daddy Zeus might launch a lightning bolt.)
The oracle of Delphi chewed laurel leaves prior to prophesying. Symbolizing wisdom and glory, wreaths of laurel leaves rewarded poets and athletes alike. Our word “laureate” means “crowned with laurel.”
This evergreen tree can grow to be ten to twenty feet tall and has an attractive rounded crown. But this Mediterranean native is not cold hardy here, so I recommend growing it in a container. When danger of frost is out of the forecast, it likes full sun. Potted specimens are small and are often topiary subjects. Volatile oils released by the fresh leaves are delightfully fragrant, making a laurel topiary a doubly delightful houseplant.
Unfortunately, bay trees are prone to an array of pest and disease problems, the worst being scale. Scale are small insects of which there are about 1,000 species in North America. Whether “soft” or “hard,” the adults live under a protective coating in one spot sucking sap, excreting “honeydew,” and reproducing.
The “crawlers” move away from mom to find a spot to begin a lifetime of sucking sap. Females reproduce asexually. (Ask an entomologist for details.) The males have wings, do not feed on plants, and are seldom seen.
I lost a nice little laurel tree to scale because I really did not know how to deal with the problem. If the infestation is isolated, prune out that part of the plant, bag it, and place the bag in the trash. If the problem is widespread, the plant needs to be replaced. If recently purchased, I would return it to the seller.