Mountain Laurel
Kalmia latifolia
A native evergreen grown for showy clusters of flowers in late spring and glossy leaves all year, a natural for woodland edges and native gardens. It's happiest with morning sun and afternoon shade in cool, moist, acid, well-drained soil; heavy clay or wet ground kills it. Every part is highly poisonous.
- Mature size
- 8 × 6 ft
- 2.4 × 1.8 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–9b
- USDA
- Sun
- Part sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to moist
- Blooms
- Apr–Jul
Mountain Laurel at its mature size
A mature Mountain Laurel grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 4 to 8 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension.
Through the year
What Mountain Laurel looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Jul–Apr
Glossy leathery dark green leaves, no flowers.
In flower · May–Jun
Dome-shaped clusters of cup-shaped white to pale pink flowers covering the shrub.
Photos
Growing Mountain Laurel
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Southeast, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, shade garden, drought tolerant, and pollinators
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Eastern North America
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Mountain Laurel, that’s about 6 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Mountain Laurel in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.