PlantFiles: Manzanita
Arctostaphylos manzanita

I bought this plant in a 1 gallon container at the Theador Payne Native Garden Plant sale a few months ago. I planted it on the side of my house that gets very little sun. Early AM if at all.
I went out to look at it a few weeks ago, and someone had trampled it but it was still alive. I proped it back up.
I went out to look at it this morning and to my extreme surprise, it had bloomed!
The plant is no taller than 5"! Every branch has a cluster of fruity blooms. I will try to take a picture and upload it! Did I fail to mention the area that I planted this little wonder plant is to say the least neglected?

Difficult to cultivate in a garden. I have managed it with one plant grown from seed collected in 1990 near Yosemite Ca.
Tall leggy shrub best feature its bright mahogany coloured bark which is shed each year to reveal anew even brighter one. Dull green leaves and sticky clusters of bell shaped flowers pink in colour in May.(in S.E. England). As yet not set seed for me. Intresting! pete2255

Great California native shrub with the most incredible colored reddish wood- extremely hard, too. that's why it is the most commonly sold wood for bird perches- lasts a long time with their constant gnawing, and it's ornamental and smooth as well. Very drought tolerant plant.

This beautiful plant is almost impossible to transplant or to grow in the garden.
It is very common in the mountains of California.