Howard McMinn Manzanita

If you live on the West Coast, then you are probably already familiar with the wonder and beauty of native Manzanita! This super hardy family of shrubs is a real eye-catcher! Even if you don't recall seeing it in the wild - or have even seen it in your neighbor's garden - we know that you have noticed its striking branches!

Howard McMinn Manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Howard McMinn') is one of the oldest named and cultivated Manzanitas available. It was first marketed in 1955 in California and quickly became the Manzanita you see most often in water-wise commercial landscapes!

Howard McMinn is also the most flowery of all the cultivated Manzanitas! The foliage has been the star of many a wedding or floral centerpiece for decades! It's time you brought this great plant home to your own garden!

It has tons of pendulous, nodding-bell-shaped flowers in white or blush pink that bloom on and off from spring to fall. You'll love how it attracts all kinds of pollinators including moths, Hummingbirds, and butterflies. The finely textured, dainty foliage is broadleaf evergreen and the red stems are strikingly pretty!

Planting and Application:

These are fantastic hedge plants, growing up to 6 feet tall and around 7 feet wide, creating a manageable size for easy peasy privacy that screens out unwanted views and prying eyes all year round! Plant your new outdoor garden room, windbreak, or property dividing hedge 4-5 feet apart on center so the branches will grow together and form a solid screen!

Groupings, allées, and rows can be used as impressive backdrops that highlight everything else planted around them! Define your landscape's borders and beds with a neatly trimmed or sheared hedge, or let them grow into their compact natural form! You'll gain lush greenery throughout your landscape and even create a unique foundation planting!

Want to take it next level? Try removing the lower third to half of the limbs and exposing the reddish bark and multi-trunked twisting branches - creating a unique tree form! You can even create a small topiary or bonsai tree with regular training! Pot up in a large planter or decorative raised bed for a prominent focal point in your Xeric and Rock garden setting!

• Glossy Green Broadleaf Evergreen Shrub
• Darling Bell-Shaped Pinkish-White Blossoms Spring to Fall!
• Pollinator Friendly & Wildlife Love Them
• Striking Reddish Twisting Branches
• Hedges, Tree-Form Specimens, Backdrops & Windbreaks

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Howard McMinn is fine in full sun, and all kinds of soils except rich or wet ones. Beach sand? No problem! Adobe or hard-pan clay? No problem! In fact, it does best in poor fertility and slightly acidic arid conditions! It doesn't like regular water, so it probably isn't the best lawn plant.

If you plant it about 10 feet away from the sprinkler system, though, where it gets some water but doesn't stay wet, then you have the makings of a fantastic transition or hedge plant! Provide 3-4 inches of arborist mulch to hold in soil moisture more consistently and insulate the roots. Prune after the flowers fade to keep these smaller if needed.

• Full Sun Shrub
• Moderate to Low Moisture Needs - Xeric Once Established
• Any Well-Drained Slightly-Acidic Soil - Best In Low Fertility
• Prune After Flowering
• Salt, Deer, & Rabbit Resistant

Need a hardy West Coast wildlife magnet? If you've never grown a Manzanita before, but want to give it a try, then Howard McMinn is the one for you! Order yours at Nature Hills Nursery today!