Native Gardener’s Corner-Member’s Tips, Tricks, and Techniques is a regular feature compiled by OCCNPS board member Dan Songster to share information from chapter members and experts statewide about gardening with native plants.

“With winter here, manzanita blooms can’t be far away. Which is your favorite Arctostaphylos for your garden, and why?”

Terry LePage-“Arctostaphylos ‘Howard McMinn’ is my favorite: I have four!  It is reliable and neat and grows in shade, almost lawn water or almost no water. Of course, I like any manzanita that will prosper in my garden.”

Leon Baginski-“I like ’Sunset.’ Fast growing, tolerant of clay and a medium size that prunes up nicely.” 

Nancy Harris-“Sadly, I don’t have any manzanitas in my garden, but I’ve been thinking the Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’ (4-6 foot high and 6 foot spread) would work well in any garden with its light green leaves and many white-pink flowers.”

Rama Nayeri-“I love ‘Howard McMinn’.  I just really love the overall look of it, and its colors.”

Elizabeth Wallace-“I was afraid to try our local Big Berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) because I had heard they don’t like clay soil. Despite this, I tried planting several one-gallon A. glaucas at a property that has red clay and I have been delighted at how easy they have been to grow and how beautiful they are. I recently installed a Big Berry manzanita in my front garden on flat ground and it is thriving.”

Dan Songster-“For a larger statement plant, I like Arctostaphylos ‘Austin Griffiths’ with its dark maroon-chocolate bark, forming an attractive structure for its clusters of white to soft pink flowers.  The blooms appear in early winter, providing a valuable nectar source for hummingbirds and bees. Over time, this upright manzanita can reach a height of up to 10 feet and a width of 6 ft and it can be easily shaped into a small tree.

‘Austin Griffiths‘ accepts occasional irrigation but can be drought tolerant once established. (Some say this plant is more garden tolerant than Arctostaphylos ‘Dr. Hurd’).”

Growing Tip: Always better to err on the side of really good drainage if you can. Clay soils? Try raising soil level prior to planting and adding gravels and decomposed granite. Don’t incorporate green waste or wood products into the backfill.

Bonus Feature-Three More Manzanitas to Consider

Arctostaphylos pajaroensis ‘Paradise’
Various groups including the San Diego Chapter of CNPS enjoy Arctostaphylos pajaroensis ‘Paradise’. It was selected from one of the most ornate of California’s many manzanita species, the Pajaro Manzanita by Wayne Roderick. He provided plant material to Suncrest Nursery who introduced this plant in 1982.

The auriculate leaves emerge a deep red, turn cooper, and mature to gray green with a red margin. These contrast well with the purple, shredding bark and the pink winter flowers are followed by conspicuous red berries.

It is a fairly big, sometimes sprawling manzanita that is larger than the medium sized A. ‘Howard McMinn,’ or A. ‘Sunset,’ but smaller than the tree like A. ‘Dr. Hurd’ or ‘Byrd Hill’ or our wonderful Big Berry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca).

Height descriptions from various sources range from 4 to 8 feet, with a width from 6 to 10 feet. It can be lightly pruned to help control growth and make for a slightly denser plant that has more blooms when the flowering season comes around.


Yes, you would be correct to consider it a full sun plant, but it can be successful grown in part shade, especially inland. And while heavy soils are not its favorite media to grow in, it can tolerate clay better than many manzanita species. In fact some sources make specific mention of it being good in heavy soils. As with most manzanitas, avoid overwatering–especially in summer.

Arctostaphylos edmundsii ‘Big Sur’
Larger in stature than other selections of A. edmundsii ‘Big Sur’ can grow 3 to 5 feet high and wide. This knee-high subshrub is a great size for gardens, making a dense mound with the typical cinnamon bark and masses of white to pink flowers in late winter and early spring. Place it as a step down in size from Sunset manzanita or step up from Arctostaphylos ‘Emerald Carpet’. Although it is native from the Big Sur area of the California coast, it was grown by Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont, now California Botanic Garden, and is a fairly versatile garden plant.

Las Pilitas Nursery says, “Big Sur manzanita will tolerate beach sand or adobe and, with some afternoon shade, can commonly tolerate the San Joaquin Valley.”

Side note to container gardeners:

Pete Veilleux, owner and propagator of East Bay Wilds Nursery in Oakland grows hundreds of different plants in decorative and unusual pots. Pete is particularly fond of manzanitas, and says, “Big Sur manzanita is my all-time favorite manzanita to grow in containers.”

Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’
Rob Moore (A long time OCCNPS Member) and owner of California Native Landscape Design says, “I must mention John Dourley manzanita (Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’), which is a personal favorite of mine. This hybrid is a dependable ground cover with a mounding habit 2 feet tall by 6 feet wide with new growth foliage that has an appealing red tint fading to gray-green during summer months. The clusters of pink flowers are abundant over a long bloom season followed by purple-red fruit. A. ‘John Dourley’ was named by native plant champions Mike Evans and Jeff Bohn of Tree of Life Nursery who introduced this lovely plant. John Dourley was the horticulture director at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, now California Botanic Garden, during the 1970’s.

According to several sources (including Las Pilitas Nursery) ‘John Dourley‘ manzanita seems to need more water than most other manzanita’s so situate accordingly. It should also be noted that the well-known plantswoman of the San Gabriel Chapter of CNPS, Orchid Black, included this plant in her top ten list of ground covers!

Note: I have often found the previous three manzanitas at Tree of Life Nursery, so they are available.

For an overview of manzanitas for your garden, check out this article by Teresa Everett of the San Diego Chapter of CNPS.

Our question for February: “Do you have any ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ for your native garden or plans for changing landscape in some way this season?”

Email your responses to Dan Songster at songster@cox.net. Please attempt to keep replies brief so we can include most of the responses.