A Manzanita Resource Guide

Garden-worthy Manzanitas

The following suggestions were assembled by Paula Panich to accompany her tribute to manzanitas in the January 2008 issue of Pacific Horticulture. They are derived from California Native Plants for Your Garden (see below), and from Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in Claremont, California. (www.rsabg.org)

Low shrubs and groundcovers (under 3-4’)
Arctostaphylos edmundsii
Edmunds manzanita
A. edmundsii ‘Carmel Sur’
A. pumila
sandmat manzanita
A. uva-ursi
bearberry, kinnikinnick
A. uva-ursi ‘Radiant’
A. ‘Pacific Mist’

Medium shrubs (3-4’ to 10’)
Arctostaphylos bakeri ‘Louis Edmonds’
A. parjaroensis ‘Paradise’
A. ‘Howard McMinn’
A. ‘John Dourley’
A. ‘Sentinel’
A. ‘Sunset’

Tree-like shrubs (over 10’)
A. glauca
bigberry manzanita
A. manzanita
Parry manzanita
A. ‘Dr Hurd’

Nursery Sources

Each of the following nurseries usually offer several species or selections of manzanita (Arctostaphylos), including many that are not included in Paula Panich’s article in the January 2008 of Pacific Horticulture or in the list above. In addition to the nurseries listed, watch for plant sales at botanical gardens with native plant collections and at local chapters of the California Native Plant Society.

Bay Natives (online only)
San Francisco, CA
www.baynatives.com
Online catalog

California Flora Nursery (retail)
Somers & D Street,
PO Box 3
Fulton, CA 95439
707/528-8813
www.calfloranursery.com

Cistus Nursery (retail and mail order)
22711 NW Gillihan Road
Portland (Sauvie Island), OR 97231
503/621-2233
www.cistus.com

Colvos Creek Nursery (mail order)
24029 59th Avenue SW
Vashon, WA 98070
206/749-9508
www.colvoscreeknursery.com

Elkhorn Native Plant Nursery (retail, Fridays only)
1957B Highway One
Moss Landing, CA 95039
831/763-1207
www.elkhornnursery.com

High Country Gardens (mail order)
2902 Rufina Street
Santa Fe, NM 87507
800/925-9387
www.highcountrygardens.com

Las Pilitas Nursery (retail)
3232 Las Pilitas Road
Santa Margarita, CA 93453
805/438-5992
www.laspilitas.com

Mostly Natives Nursery (retail)
27235 Highway One
Tomales, CA 94971
707/878-2009
www.mostlynatives.com

Native Plants of the Northwest (retail and mail order)
2158 Bower Ct SE
Salem, OR 97317
503/581-2638
www.nwplants.com

Theodore Payne Foundation (retail)
10459 Tuxford Street
Sun Valley, CA 91352
818/768-1802
www.theodorepayne.org

Tree of Life Nursery (retail, Thursdays-Saturday only)
33201 Ortega Highway
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92693
949/728-0685
www.treeoflifenursery.com

Yerba Buena Nursery (retail)
19500 Skyline Blvd
Woodside, CA 94062
650/851-1668
www.yerbabuenanursery.com

For Further Reading

The following short list of articles and books offers information on the cultivation of manzanitas.

Bornstein, Carol, David Fross, and Bart O’Brien. California Native Plants for the Garden. Los Olivos, CA: Cachuma Press, 2005.

Fingold, Henri. Some Ornamental Manzanitas. Pacific Horticulture, Summer 1977, pp. 7-11.

Harlow, Nora, editor. Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Region. Oakland, CA: East Bay Municipal Utility District, 2004.

Keator, Glenn and Alrie Middlebrook. Designing California Native Gardens. Berkeley, CA: UC Press, 2007.

Panich, Paula. Manzanita. Pacific Horticulture, January 2008, pp. 35-38.

Perry, Robert C. Landscape Plants for Western Regions. Claremont, CA: Land Design Publishing, 1992.