Answer: The hardy Portuguese laurel (Prunus lusitanica) is perfect for hedging and topiary. The combination of evergreen leaves and rhubarb-red stems makes the Portuguese laurel a very attractive ...

There is laurel and then there is laurel; in this case, the ferociously hardy Portuguese form (Prunus lusitanica) which was once immensely popular, but now, like so many of those dark evergreens ...

California bay leaves can be a bit longer, at 3 to 5 inches, than those of bay laurel, which are 2 to 4 inches, but there is enough variability that a particular tree could be somewhere in between.