Howard Mcminn Manzanita, Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn'

About Howard Mcminn Manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn') 48 Nurseries Carry This Plant

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Horticultural selection from Arctostaphylos densiflora in the foothills of the north coast mountains. Howard McMinn Manzanita is known as 'everyman's manzanita' for good reason. It is tolerant of a wide variety of garden conditions including clay soils, summer watering, pruning and shearing. So if you know nothing about native plants but would like to try a manzanita we suggest you start with Howard McMinn. This is a medium sized shrub with fine textured bright green foliage and red bark. Pink flowers appear in late spring. It is one of the last manzanita's to bloom so if you have other manzanitas, including a Howard McMinn will extend your manzanita bloom time. At maturity Howard McMinn can reach 8 feet and spread to 10 feet or more. However, you can keep it in check by pruning. As it matures it will open up and reveal more of it's twisting, red colored branches. Howard McMinn' is excellent when you are trying to transition from a watered flower bed to a drought tolerant area. Moths, hummingbirds, butterflies and all sorts of other native wildlife like the plant. Howard McMinn' does fine in beach sand or adobe. An excellent hedge plant for that small hedge between you and the neighbors. Tolerates almost any soil type. Prefers sun in coastal sites, and sun or part shade in inland sites. Horticultural selection of A. densiflora: origin = north coast foothills; introduced by the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation in 1955.

Thanks to the Theodore Payne Foundation for sharing information about this plant.

Plant Description

Plant Type

Shrub

Size

5 - 7 ft tall
8 - 10 ft wide

Form

Rounded

Growth Rate

slow

Dormancy

Evergreen

Flower Color

White, Pink

Flowering Season

Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported

Hummingbirds and attracted to the flowers. Other birds are attracted to the fruit and seeds.
Bird gardens

Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 likely * ) SHOW ALL

White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Landscaping Information

Sun

Full Sun, Part shade

Moisture

Low, Moderate

Nurseries

Carried by 48

Ease of Care

Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance

Soil Drainage

Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description

Tolerates a wide variety of soils. Soil PH: 5.0 - 8.0

Common uses

Hedges, Bird Gardens, Deer Resistant, Butterfly Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants

Works well with a number of low to medium height plants including Ceanothus species, Buckwheat (Eriogonum species), and Sages (Salvia species).

Maintenance

Prune in late summer to achieve desired height or spread

Site Characteristics

Alternative Names

Botanical Names: Arctostaphylos 'Howard McMinn'

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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links: Jepson eFlora Taxon Page CalPhotos Wikipedia Calflora

Howard Mcminn Manzanita

Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn'

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Howard Mcminn ManzanitaArctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn'

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Howard Mcminn Manzanita

Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn'