My client’s rosemary bushes have spider mites. I was rather surprised thinking of rosemary as a rather invincible plant; it’s aromatic oils a deterrent from predation—accept human—of all kinds.

The plants have that typical mite-infestation look. Mottled and yellowish, not dead , but not quite right either. And they have not set one flower bud, a great disappointment to me who loves their bilabate flowers with protruding stamens, like hissing dragon heads..

Spider mites are hard to control, usually requiring direct contact with some sort of spray, and because they live on the underside of the leaves not the easiest pest to target. With rosemary it’s even harder, with all those closely packed needle-like leaves.

I had hopes as I always do that there might be some simple solution floating around on the web. So, I googled “rosemary mites”. The first thing I found was a recipe for a garlic spray. I wondered if I hadn’t stumbled into Epicurous or the Food Networks website.

As I scrolled down the page I found recipes for using rosemary oil to control spider mites on other plants. You’d think rosemary wouldn’t get spider mites at all, with the amount a recommendations there are for using rosemary oil to kill them.

Rosemary is one of the most beautiful winter bloomers here in my estimation. The crystalline blue flowers of the cultivar ‘ Tuscan Blue’ — the most popular in Northwest gardens— are very cheery, not a word I usually associate with blue. And when they are blooming in February, makes winter feel like spring.

I never found a solution for the spider mites on my client’s rosemary bushes. But I did find out the damage I assessed as caused by spider mites is more than likely leaf-hopper damage. Recommend solutions were to tear out the plants. Or try to hit the fast moving leafhoppers with a soap spray. Since it is winter there are no insects to be found… so I guess I’ll pull them out.

A sad decision.