Description
Excuse me as I turn on my megaphone, “To all the goats and sheep reading this, please resist the urge to eat the sheep laurel.” Okay, now we have that public service announcement out of the way. My dad always referred to this plant as “lamb kill”, for it will indeed kill sheep and goats if they eat it, or certainly make them wish they were dead. Ingestion of this plant causes epic bloating and pain. (Rhododendrons have this effect as well, which is no surprise considering they are both closely related and in the same plant family, Ericaceae.)
In spite of all this, sheep laurel produces spectacular displays of dark pink flowers in mid June. These plants can take full shade and dry acidic soils, once they are established. They grow 1 to 2 feet tall, and have evergreen leaves. There are multiple cultivars of this plant that have been selected for outstanding flower color and number. At least one cultivar, ‘Kennebago’ was selected from a population right here in Maine. This brings up an interesting conundrum; the line of thinking with native cultivars is that we should probably avoid them due to the potential of low genetic diversity and perhaps poor “ecological fitment”. But what about a variety that was selected from the area or state you live in? Huh. I don’t know the answer, but it’s something to ponder……
2 foot high plants in 2 gallon pots for $30 each
