Everyone knows the words bachelor and laureate. They came to the Russian language from Latin and are formed from the name of the plant Laurel noble (Laurus nobilis). The bachelor from Latin “bacca laurea” is the “laurel branch”, and the laureate from “laureatus” is “crowned with a laurel wreath.”

The leaves of laurel or “laurel” as a spice have been known in Russia for a long time, they were usually brought from Europe. From the end of the 17th century, laurels began to be grown in the royal gardens, wintering in “warm sheds”. In Peter’s time in the Summer Gardens, sheared laurels were widely used for decoration. Laurel trees in the form of a ball or a pyramid were exposed along the alleys. Foreign gardeners even tried to plant laurels in alleyways on the street, but the climate made its own adjustments.

Laurels took root in the greenhouses of the imperial gardens, and gardeners were charged with the responsibility of handing bundles of bay leaves to the royal kitchen.

In the small greenhouse of the Summer Garden, leaves begin to grow near the laurel. In May, they will be taken outside, and the whole summer season they can be admired while walking along the alleys.

Fresh laurel leaves

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