Viburnum tinus 'Loren' LISAROSE® laurustinus
Symbivit Tric (arbuscular)
Symbivit (arbuscular)Viburnum
The genus Viburnum includes around 150 species distributed across the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, from eastern Asia through the Caucasus and Europe to North and South America. Botanically, it is an exceptionally diverse group: it comprises both deciduous and evergreen shrubs, species with strongly fragrant flowers as well as those with only a faint scent or none at all, and others grown primarily for their (inedible) fruit. This diversity is reflected in common horticultural practice and several informal groups – the fragrant winter viburnums (V. farreri and V. × bodnantense), the fruiting viburnums (V. opulus, V. trilobum), the evergreen Asian viburnums (V. davidii, V. tinus, V. cinnamomifolium), the large-leaved ornamental viburnums (V. plicatum, V. japonicum), and many more, including hybrids that combine traits from several groups. The genus has been known since antiquity, and its Latin name Viburnum appears in the works of Roman authors around the turn of the era, such as Virgil and Pliny the Elder.
Laurustinus, Viburnum tinus, originates from the Mediterranean, both from its Eurasian coastline stretching from the Pyrenees to Turkey and from the northern parts of Africa, where it grows in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. It is also native to the nearby islands, from the Canary Islands to the Balearics. It is admired for its striking metallic blue fruits, which are a botanical curiosity. Their colour is not produced by pigment but by structural colouration, created by light refracting on microscopic lipid globules. The species name tinus comes directly from antiquity, where it was used exclusively for this evergreen shrub. Pliny the Elder mentions it in his Naturalis Historia as a plant commonly grown near dwellings, making it one of the oldest documented ornamental shrubs of the Mediterranean. Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) formally described the species in 1753, although its cultural and botanical history is far older. In the wild it is most often found in maquis, the evergreen shrublands of the Mediterranean with poor soils, arid summers and intense heat, as well as on the moister lower slopes of hills. In these habitats it combines two seemingly contradictory traits: resilience to summer drought and a need for winter moisture. Unlike many other plants typical of such locations, it is neither spiny nor defensive in any other way and brings a sense of freshness even where little else survives.
LISAROSE® laurustinus is a dense and many branched evergreen shrub of broadly upright habit. Its leaves are 6-7 cm long and 3-4 cm wide, ovate, leathery but thinner than most evergreens, medium to dark green, and glossier than most other varieties. As early as in late August it starts to produce a profusion of highly attractive terminal cymes composed of purple pink flower buds which open into tiny, fragrant flowers in October. They are white as they open and gain pink shades as the weather turns colder. In mild winters of zones 7 and higher it may bloom until March the following year. They are tolerant of light frost so even in colder zones you can see a profusely blooming shrub in early December. Flowers are followed by small, inedible but not poisonous, blue berries unless they are killed by severe frost. Stems are softly hairy, light green in summer and turn maroon in autumn and winter.
Apart from flowers, laurustinus is cultivated for its lush foliage and compact habit. It forms broadly upright, dense shrubs that are used in mixed borders as well as informal evergreen hedges and along pathways, especially in warmer zones (7 and up). In USDA zone 6 it grows about 1-1.5m tall and in warmer zones it can be almost 2m tall.
Last update 28-09-2021
Viburnum tinus is remarkably healthy in temperate climates and is not usually troubled by pests or diseases. It grows best in fertile, humus-rich and well-drained soil but tolerates much poorer sites as long as they are not waterlogged. It is not demanding regarding pH, although slightly acidic soil enhances the colour of the foliage. It thrives in full sun or partial shade, with full sun giving the best results, and once established it is highly tolerant of prolonged summer drought. In dry winters it benefits from a single deep watering once a month.
It does not require shaping, as it naturally maintains a compact habit, but it tolerates any form of pruning. The best time is spring after flowering, when the shape can be refined or spent flower heads shortened, though this will remove the autumn fruit display. Mulching in winter helps protect the roots from temperature fluctuations, and young plants can be sheltered with evergreen boughs. In regions with long periods of frost, winter shade prevents the leaves from being scorched by early morning sun. Fully (stem) hardy to -17 °C (zone 7), and root-hardy down to even -27 °C (USDA zone 5b) on a protected site.
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- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
