# Carolina Bog Laurel (Kalmia carolina) > Clusters of small pink cups ringed in red in April and May, on a low evergreen laurel of Southern bogs and wet pine savannas. Also called Carolina wicky, Carolina bog myrtle, Carolina sheep laurel, Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/carolina-bog-laurel/ ![Carolina bog laurel (Kalmia carolina) cluster of small pink cup flowers in a pine savanna](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/carolina-bog-laurel-h1610-800.jpg) *Photo: Austin Pursley, CC0 ยท [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AKalmia_carolina.jpg)* ## Facts - Type: Shrub - Mature height: 1 to 5 ft - USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 8 - Grows wild in: Stream banks, sandy barrens, swamps and wet flats - Native range: Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia - Sun: Full, Part - Soil moisture: Wet, Average - Growth rate: Slow - Traits: Rare, Showy flowers, Evergreen, Tolerates wet soil - Sold as: Saplings, Seed Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them. ## Availability Not yet priced online. Ask at captain@bluewhaletrees.com or leave an email on the web page to be told when it is listed. ## Notes Carolina bog laurel is a low, colony-forming evergreen of the Southeast's bogs, pocosin edges and wet pine savannas, from southeastern Virginia to Georgia, with a few mountain bogs. It is the southern form of sheep laurel, and some botanists treat the two as one species. Georgia lists it as threatened, and NatureServe ranks it imperiled in Virginia and extirpated in Tennessee. Unlike our mountain laurel, it bears its flowers along the stem below the new shoots, and its leaves come in threes. Plant it in sun on wet, sandy, acid ground at the edge of a bog garden, where its pink clusters open in spring. ## Size, growth and what to expect No source rates its growth, so our growth estimator treats it as slow, like our mountain laurel, about a foot a year. It is an erect evergreen shrub 1 to 5 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide, rarely over 6 feet, spreading by suckers into colonies. Clusters of 4 to 12 pink cups, rarely white, open in April and May along the stems below the new shoots. Each is a quarter to half an inch across, with a ring of red dots inside. The minute, winged seeds ripen in capsules in September and October and scatter on the wind. It grows wild in the coastal plain and Sandhills from southeastern Virginia to Georgia, and rarely in mountain bogs. Its home is shrub bogs, pocosin edges, streamhead ecotones and wet pine savannas. ## How to grow Carolina Bog Laurel Carolina bog laurel grows best in full sun and takes part shade. It wants a moist to wet, sandy, acid soil, like the bog edges and wet pine savannas where it grows wild. Set plants 3 feet apart and keep them 3 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires. Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with pine needles, clear of the stems. The seed is minute and needs no chilling. Sow it on the surface of moist peat at room temperature, uncovered, in good light. Tests of sheep laurel, its northern form, found no dormancy, and the seed of our mountain laurel needs light. Keep the soil moist through the first two summers. It spreads by suckers from the base into a colony. Prune, if at all, right after bloom, since next year's flowers come on old wood. Each flower carries both male and female parts, and its ten anthers sit in pockets until the weight of a bee springs them. Carolina bog laurel sets fruit with its own pollen as well as a neighbor's, so one plant bears seed alone. No significant pests or diseases trouble it. Every part is highly toxic if eaten, so keep it away from grazing animals and small children. ## Sources - [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Kalmia angustifolia var. carolina](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/kalmia-carolina/) - [Flora of North America, vol. 8: Kalmia angustifolia](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065665) - [Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Biodiversity Portal: Carolina Bog Laurel, account by L. Chafin, updated March 2020](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/profile?group=plants&es_id=17684) - [NatureServe Explorer: Kalmia carolina](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.136342/Kalmia_carolina) - [North Carolina Native Plant Society: Kalmia carolina](https://plants.ncwildflower.org/plant_galleries/details/kalmia-carolina) - [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Kalmia carolina](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=KACA2) - [USDA Forest Service, Fire Effects Information System: Kalmia angustifolia, sheep laurel](https://research.fs.usda.gov/feis/species-reviews/kalang) - [Baskin and Baskin 2002, propagation protocol for Kalmia angustifolia, Native Plant Network](https://npn.rngr.net/renderNPNProtocolDetails?selectedProtocolIds=ericaceae-kalmia-1950) - [Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation: Natural Heritage Resources of Virginia, rare plants](https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/document/plantlist-current.pdf) ## Read before planting - [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md) - [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md) - [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md) - [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md) - [Invasive vines and shrubs are what is killing your woods](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/invasive-vines-and-shrubs/index.html.md) - [Native trees and shrubs for butterflies and moths: host plants first, nectar second](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-butterflies-and-moths/index.html.md) ## Related - [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Carolina Bog Laurel, add ?species=carolina-bog-laurel with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address, for example ?species=carolina-bog-laurel&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average. - [Companion species for Carolina Bog Laurel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=carolina-bog-laurel): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard. - [Growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate itself runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/#species=carolina-bog-laurel - [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Carolina Bog Laurel is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/#species=carolina-bog-laurel - [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Carolina Bog Laurel needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the planner runs in the browser at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/#plants=carolina-bog-laurel:1 - [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Carolina Bog Laurel flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species.