We'd all love to have an indoor herb garden conveniently located right next to the kitchen counter. Many herbs will grow well inside, but they need a lot of light and much larger pots that you usually see pictured. Let's face it, a small pot of basil isn't going to keep you in pesto. One herb I can recommend for indoor growing is Bay Laurel or Sweet Bay (Laurus nobilis).
I bought a small seedling about 15 years ago and that 6" seedling is now closer to 6'. I gladly drag it outdoors for a summer vacation and back in for the winter, just to have my touch of the Mediterranean. It seems perfectly happy indoors, with one caveat, keep it well watered. The dry winter air can quickly dessicate the leaves. But it's a beautiful tree that is easy to keep at a manageable size, especially if you keep pruning leaves for cooking. Here are some tips for growing sweet bay.
Photo: © Marie Iannotti
Comments
I actually bought one of these last year to anchor my herb garden, but haven’t planted it yet. I’m just barely zone 8, so I’m hoping it’ll survive. Though we had a very unusual freeze/snow this year so I’m not sure the one I have survived! Sigh. Thanks for the tips.
~Angela
Hopefully the roots, at least, will make it through the winter. These plants really want to survive and send up lots of side shoots when they feel threatened. Of course it won’t get very tall if it has to keep starting over, so I hope it just lost a few branch tips. Good luck.
I am eager to plant bay laurel in a container as a house plant but where can I buy seedling? It is sold out at Park Seeds,
Eva, Territorial Seed still has some.
There’s also a list of companies that are supposed to offer them at Dave’s Garden.