Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Won't grow here

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Won't grow here

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✕

Out of range today and still out of range in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 39 ecoregions — 34 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 newly possible by 2070. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part shade

Water

Moderate water

Spacing

72"

Habit

Aromatic evergreen large shrub or small tree, pyramidal and easily kept pruned

Care tips

•

Grow it in rich, moist, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade; size and shape are easily controlled by pruning, so it suits a clipped standard or hedge.

•

It is winter hardy only to Zone 8 - north of there, keep it in a container, move it outdoors in part shade for summer, and bring it indoors before fall frost.

•

Harvest the leathery leaves any time of year for the kitchen, and dry them for stronger flavor.

Lifecycle

Planting

Winter hardy to USDA Zones 8-10, where it is best grown in rich, moist, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). North of Zone 8 it is grown in containers as a houseplant.

Transplanting

Move young container plants in spring; size and shape are easily controlled by pruning (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder), so plants are readily reshaped rather than relocated once established.

Early growth

Keep soil rich, moist, and well-drained while roots establish (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). NC State Extension lists good drainage with occasionally dry to occasionally wet tolerance, so avoid sustained waterlogging.

Maturity

Matures as a pyramidal evergreen reaching 10-30 feet (to 60 feet in the wild) but is often pruned to 8 feet or less for garden use (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder). Trees are dioecious, and pollinated female plants bear single-seeded purple-black berries.

Propagation

Commonly propagated from semi-hardwood cuttings to reproduce a clipped culinary plant true to form; seed is slow and, because the species is dioecious, requires both male and female plants for fruit.

Pollination

Dioecious — needs male pollinizer

Dioecious - Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes that Laurus nobilis has separate male and female trees, and that flowers on female plants, if pollinated, are followed by single-seeded purple-black berries. A male plant must be within pollination range of a female for berries to set. Most gardeners grow bay purely for its evergreen culinary foliage, where the dioecious habit is irrelevant; it matters only if berries are wanted.

Plants don't grow alone

Fruit forage

Bird

Eastern songbirds (multi-species) (multiple species (Passeriformes))

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox notes that bay laurel trees attract birds (songbirds); the single-seeded purple-black berries borne on pollinated female plants are the likely draw. Bay laurel is a non-native Mediterranean plant, so this is a generic ornamental bird-attraction note rather than a documented North American native-wildlife association.

For people

Parts edible

The leathery, fragrant leaves are the bay leaf of the kitchen - Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records the leaves as a common culinary herb and classifies the suggested use as Herb. The leaves are used to flavor dishes and removed before eating (they are too tough and sharp-edged to swallow whole); the leaf is the edible part, not the berry.

Native range

AHS heat range

6-12

Climate notes

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Laurus nobilis for USDA Zones 8 to 10, height 10-30 feet and spread 5-20 feet, full sun to part shade, medium water, blooming yellowish-green March to May; it gives the native range as northern Africa, western Asia, and southern Europe.

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes the plant is winter hardy only to Zone 8 and that north of Zone 8 it should be grown in containers as a houseplant, placed outdoors in part shade in summer and brought indoors before fall frost; size and shape are easily controlled by pruning.

•

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox lists USDA zones 8b-10b with resistance to deer, diseases, insect pests, and poor soil, and notes that the trees attract birds (songbirds).

•

Not native to North America - Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder gives the native range as the Mediterranean (northern Africa, western Asia, southern Europe), so this is a cultivated exotic rather than a habitat plant for North American wildlife.

In the designer

Growth over time

96-360" tall · 60-240" spread

Mature large shrub/small tree where winter-hardy; size readily controlled by pruning.

Design roles: Structure · Focal point · Edible · Container

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Bay laurel

At a glance

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations