Q. What’s happening to my Spring Bouquet (Viburnum tinus)?  It has bloomed beautifully in the Spring for several years (including this past Spring), but many of the leaves are turning brown, and appear to be burnt.  I didn’t see any evidence of spider mites or other pests.  I checked the drippers, and it is getting sufficient water. A. Spring Bouquet is the marketing name given to the compact form of a flowering shrub found in the nursery trade in California. Technically this group of shrubs are called Laurustinus so let’s just call it Spring Bouquet viburnum. It’s gotten some tracking in the Mojave Desert mostly from people moving here from California. It’s not a desert plant but it comes from the dry Mediterranean area so think rosemary, oleander, Laurel, junipers, and cypresses like Italian Cypress. Like other Mediterranean plants it’s mesic in its water use so plant it in soil amended with compost and it may not like being surrounded by rock after a few years down the road. It grows best on the east or north side of a home. You will take more chances growing it on the south or west sides in a sunny location, but it may do okay in the shade of a tree during the hot afternoons and surrounded by other plants. It will not like rock on the soil surface as it gets older.             Like other Mediterranean plants the biggest disease problems are root rots from watering too often or poor water drainage. Viburnum like yours gets aphids and thrips in the spring. In the heat of the summer, it may get spider mites and thrips damage may continue. So, you are right for checking or spider mites when summer temperatures arrive. If spider mites are problems the leaves appear dusty and oftentimes light webbing can be seen. This webbing from spider mites (why do you think they are called spider…mites…?) on tomato but if they are spider…mites…then you will see webbing on your plant as well.             However, the usual problem is planting them in hot bright locations and then surrounding them with rock on the soil surface. The soil amendments last for a couple of years but they slowly dissolve into desert soil over the next 3 to 5 years and the plants start getting burnt edges around the leaves.             Before buying an insecticide look at it at about 2 PM. Is the location where it’s planted hot and very sunny? Is the plant surrounded by rock on the soil surface? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, then it’s probably a location problem combined with a soil problem and not spider mites. Nurse it through the summer and in the fall rake back the rock, amend the soil with compost and cover as much of the area with woodchips as you can. Try the paper test for detecting mites because they are so small

Q. I use rosemary in my cooking, which I purchase from the store.  It is expensive and it does not last very long if I don’t use it all. I would like to plant a rosemary bush in our yard so that I can use it in my cooking as I please.  Is there a difference between rosemary bush used for “cooking” and regular rosemary used in landscaping? Honeybees like Rosemary flowers and these plants flower all season long and particularly profuse in the winter. So put them where people are not afraid of bees. A. Landscape rosemary works if you want a balance between visual appeal and cooking. Use the new growth that has the flowers if you want it for cooking. If you are serious about a type of rosemary used for cooking, then pick a variety recognized for its oil content. Landscape rosemary focuses more on looks, green foliage and flower color, rather than oil content About as sophisticated as you can get with landscape rosemary is the difference between an “upright” and a spreading or “prostrate” form. If the new growth is pointing upward, it’s an “upright” form. If the new growth is growing more horizontally then it’s a spreading or “prostrate” form. The prostrate form is a good choice if you want it to cascade down or over a wall but not considered a strong form for cooking.             Rosemary is a Mediterranean plant which means it likes dry and rocky soils found in southern Italy, Greece and Turkey, rock gardens, non-desert parts of California, but it’s not a cactus so it doesn’t like an unamended desert soil contrary to what the University of Florida tells you. When in doubt it’s always safe to amend desert soil a little bit when planting anything you are not sure about, even cactus. The oil content in rosemary is what gives it the flavor you want for cooking. The most aromatic portion of the plant with the highest and best quality oil is the new growth containing new flowers. So, if your primary focus in having arosemary plant is cooking then focus on varieties of rosemary with high oil content such as ‘Benenden Blue’, ‘Flora Rosa’, ‘Tuscan Blue’, ‘Majorca Pink’, ‘Arp’, ‘Albiflorus’, ‘Huntington Carpet’, ‘McConnell’s Blue’, ‘Irene’, ‘Holly Hyde’, and ‘Hill Hardy’ to name a few.

Q. I just saw Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) for sale at a local nursery. It reminded me of a yard I saw over 40 years ago in the Huntridge area that had a row of these plants which were spectacular. I was wondering what your thoughts were on this plant in our climate. I think this is a Rose of Sharon, aka shrub althaea. I only identified as a hibiscus and many of you know I have a farm in the Philippines and we have tropical hibiscus there. And now, the crazies are planting tropical hibiscus in LV? A. Rose of Sharon is a hardy and fun deciduous shrub for our climate that grows about 10 feet tall and 4 to 6 feet wide and covered in large Hibiscus-like flowers all summer long. Keep in mind it should go into the mesic part of your yard because it is MESIC and not XERIC!!!!. It will not like rock much or unamended soil. But Rose of Sharon is hard to find from local nurseries. The flowers range in color from white to blue to purple to red depending on the variety. These shrubs are underappreciated in our climate. There is some great breeding work done on it at Texas A and M at the Vernon Center. Plant this shrub in a bright north or east area in the Mojave Desert with compost amending the soil and wood chips as a surface mulch. It’s not meant to be planted in isolated areas all by itself or surrounded by rock. It likes companionship in areas with lots of light and wood chip mulch. It’s considered mesic in its water use and not meant for desert landscapes.             It’s easy to propagate from no bigger than pencil-diameter sized cuttings about 8 to 12 inches long with the leaves removed and dipped in rooting hormone. Use potting soil in small containers as the propagation medium. Plant no later than early summer. If grown as a flowering hedge, put them 4 to 6 feet apart and irrigate the row with drip tubing instead of emitters. Propagating Rose of Sharon and other hibiscus.