ARCTOSTAPHYLOS. Manzanita. Mainly West Coast and Mexico. Tough, picturesque shrubs and small trees found in considerable variety in California. Their ornamental features include reddish to purple, often crooked trunks, round to pointed oval, green to greyish green leaves, and clustered, fragrant urn shaped blossoms, painted pink to white. The flowers are borne mostly in late winter and early spring and, often develop into attractive berries. Sun, well drained soil, occasional to no supplemental watering once established, except as indicated. Most are hardy to 0-10oF.
‘Emerald Carpet’. This fine introduction by the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden has already surpassed some old standard uva-ursi cultivars in popularity. It forms a dense mat of narrow, shining, emerald-green leaves, decorated by white flowers in winter. It requires moderate watering in hot summer areas.
nummularia. Fort Bragg manzanita. Actually an unnamed though highly ornamental selection of this unusual species, received from the late Ken Taylor. The plant is compact and nearly dome shaped, usually under 2½' in height. It has slender hairy stems and small, nearly round, glossy leaves. The white flowers are borne in small clusters. Recently we have added ‘Small Change’, a selection by Roger Raiche at the U.C. Botanical Garden, Berkeley. This one is distinguished by its smaller size, matting habit, and tiny, narrow leaves, contrasting nicely with reddish stems. Both will require moderate watering and, in hot summer areas, some shade.
uva-ursi. Bearberry. A low, often prostrate coastal species, extremely popular for ground cover. The plants have closely set, narrow leaves, dark green in color, white flowers and red berries. Traditional favorites are ‘Pt. Reyes’, with stiff, dark leaves, and ‘Radiant’, with particularly lush, shiny foliage. ‘Massachusetts’ is a more recent arrival with narrow, closely set leaves reminiscent of ‘Emerald Carpet’ (see above) plus bright red berries. ‘San Bruno Mountain’, introduced by the late Ken Taylor, has heavy stems, strikingly large, thick-textured leaves, pale pink blossoms and showy berries. ‘Wood's Red’ is a compact, smaller leaved selection featuring generous production of large, bright red berries. All require moderate watering or some shading in hot summer areas.