“Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a broadleaf evergreen shrub with beautiful late-spring to early-summer flowers that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds just love. Native to eastern North…”
Pinus glauca
Mountain Laurel Brings Pretty Flowers and Evergreen Leaves to the Shade Garden
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is a broadleaf evergreen shrub with beautiful late-spring to early-summer flowers that bees, butterflies and hummingbirds just love. Native to eastern North America, it's a natural woodland dweller — making it a fantastic pick for shade gardens. Deer tend to leave it alone, too. There are lots of named cultivars out there, expanding the flower color well beyond the white or pale pink of the straight species.
Common name: Mountain laurel
Botanical name: Kalmia latifolia
Origin: This species is native across roughly the eastern half of North America, where it makes itself at home in woods and meadows.
Flowers: In late spring to early summer, small, cup-shaped flowers appear in rounded clusters that pretty much cover the whole shrub. Depending on the cultivar, the color ranges from white through every shade of pink. Inside the flowers you'll find dots and other markings — some cultivars are marked so heavily they're basically bicolor when in bloom. The flowering season can last several weeks.
Foliage: Evergreen, long and narrow, with a leathery texture and glossy sheen
Size and habit: A rounded shrub 5 to 15 feet tall and wide
Growing mountain laurel
Exposure: Part shade, dappled light
How to grow it: Plant Kalmia latifolia where it'll get more shade than sun during the day. Part shade or all-day dappled light will give you good growth and flowering. Avoid hot afternoon sun. This woodland shrub likes rich, loose, acidic soil with consistent moisture. Mulch every year with deciduous leaves, compost and/or shredded bark to build fertile soil, improve drainage, and hold moisture in. USDA Zones 4–9.
