Plant in sun or light shade along coast to shade inland. It is drought tolerant and like the species should be reliably root hardy to around 10° F. Requiring little supplemental water, this native shrub is a good candidate for planting underneath an oak canopy.

Ribes viburnifolium is native to Santa Catalina Island and extreme coastal southern California into Baja California, where it can be found growing in full to part shade. It is considered to be a rare and endangered plant in the wild. The name Ribes comes from the Syrian or Kurdish 'ribas', a name for other plants in this genus and the specific epithet means "leaves like Viburnum". Other common names include Viburnumleaf Currant, Catalina Perfume and Evergreen Currant. This 'Spooner's Mesa' selection, which we named and introduced into the nursery trade in 1998, has larger leaves giving the plant a fuller and denser appearance. It was collected on Spooner's Mesa in southern San Diego County along the Tijuana River estuary near to Mexican border by Dylan Hannon, now curator of the conservatory at the Huntington Botanical Gardens but the working at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden. We also grow the more typical Catalina Island from that we list as Ribes viburnifolium. 

The information about Ribes viburnifolium 'Spooner's Mesa' displayed on this web page is based on our research conducted in the nursery's horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also include observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share cultural information that would aid others in growing this plant.