Spring Bouquet Viburnum is NOT a Desert Plant but You Can Grow It

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