Oleander bushes are the latest Southern California plant infected by a scourge that seems imppssible to stop. If they all start dying, some parts of L.A. will look denuded. Lisa Mascaro in the Daily News has the story.

Experts say as many as half of the oleanders in Southern California are now infected with the bacteria that causes leaf scorch, and it's only a matter of time before the landscaping mainstay is gone for good. They also worry the problem could spread to liquidambar, olive and purple leaf plum trees -- all popular with landscapers.

"It hasn't generated a lot of interest because, as I tell people, the oleander is the Rodney Dangerfield of the plant world," said Matthew Blua, an entomologist at the University of California, Riverside. "It doesn't get much respect."

Around Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I spent New Year's, bark beetles are killing off the native but drought-stressed pinon pines. It was a startling difference from just two years ago. A little piece from long ago: Voracuious Beetles Take Toll on Sierra Trees