Kalmia latifolia You Can - Mountain Laurel

Kalmia latifolia You can, also known as Mountain Laurel, is different. It is a beautiful evergreen, vigorous bush of heathland soil, with a matte green, elliptical leaf, whose leaf tips have elongated with very acute points. Its spring flowering is out of the ordinary: from pink buds, the bells take on a deeper hue at maturity, changing to pink-purple floral buds. Ths creates a poetic gradation of pink and white.

Kalmia latifolia, native to the mountains of eastern North America, and also named Mountain Laurel or American Laurel, belongs to the Ericaceae family, like Heather and Rhododendron. Kalmia latifolia You Can is an evergreen shrub of beautiful dimensions, reaching 2 meters (6 feet 7 inches) in height and 1 m (3 ft 4 in) in diameter, with slow growth. Its well branched trunk, gives it a bushy, erected habit. Its evergreen dark shiny green foliage, with a lighter underside, is matte green, tough and thick, with alternate and clearly lanceolate leaves, that are slightly tapering (like those of Eucalyptus).   It provides very decorative qualities all year round. This plant is most spectacular at the end of spring, in May-June, when it is entirely covered with flowers of different shades. Each branch carries clusters (corymbs) of small flowers that are pink, in the form of 5-sided campanulate corollas, very flared, 2 to 2.5 cm (0.8 to 1 in) in diameter.  These carry 10 purple stamens on the petals. The flowers then take on a darker hue. The flowers do not all bloom at the same time, the corymbs present astonishing contrasts between the not yet open graphic, pink-purple, veined floral buds and the already bloomed flowers which also change in shades of pink. After flowering, if they have not fallen, the flowers give way to brown capsule-like fruits which last all winter.

This Kalmia, unjustly unknown, and whose amazing flowers are a delight, is a particularly hardy heathland shrub that must be positioned in semi-shade, in a well-drained, humus-rich soil. Unique and very decorative with a compact habit, it will look wonderful planted in the garden, where it will enhance all the surrounding plants! It can be used in many ways in the garden. It will be the ideal companion of heathland plants (Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias, Heathers, Hydrangeas, Japanese Maples, Magnolias, Andromedas, Cyclamens…).  It will work perfectly in an informal hedge, in mixed shrub planting, added to a perennial bed or around a pond. Its small size also means that it works well in containers on balconies or patios, provided the soil is always kept moist.

Properties:

Kalmia latifolia is a shrub which is entirely toxic to humans as well as for animals (dogs, cats, sheep, horses) when eaten, including its leaves, flowers, fruits and roots.

It is however used in homeopathy for pain relief. In the past, its very hard wood, was used to make many tools,  notably wooden spoons, hence its English nickname of Spoonwood.

Anecdote:

The denomination of the genus Kalmia, was chosen by Carl von Linné, in tribute to Pehr Kalm, famous Swedish botanist, who was one of the first to explore the flora in certain parts of North America from 1747 to 1751.

The flower of Kalmia latifolia is the emblem of the States of Connecticut and Pennsylvania.