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| Two-year-old Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) Mother Nature's Backyard garden, Gardena, California |
January
is usually a transition month in local gardens.
Annual wildflowers are but seedlings and most of our shrubs and trees
are dormant or waiting. The few species
that bloom regularly from December to February are a welcome sight. Among the plants just coming into bloom in
Mother Nature’s Backyard is our Bigberry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca).
Manzanitas
hold a special place in the hearts of many Californians. The genus Arctostaphylos
has about 60 species, primarily found in western North America from British
Columbia, Canada to Mexico. California
has the largest number of native species; in our state, many species are common
shrubs within rather small geographic ranges.
Manzanitas are mostly evergreen
and attractive year-round. It’s no
wonder they are treasured California natives.
Bigberry
manzanita has an extensive range compared to many manzanita species. It can be seen from the San Francisco Bay
area south to the foothills of central Baja California, Mexico. It grows primarily on slopes at elevations
below 4500 feet in chaparral and woodland plant communities. Locally, Arctostaphylos
glauca grows in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains. The picture above shows Bigberry Manzanita
in a natural setting.
In
the desert foothills – and higher elevations - Arctostaphylos
glauca is often a
medium-sized shrub. In lower, milder climates,
Bigberry manzanita is one of the larger manzanita species. Mature plants are often 8 to 15+ feet tall
and 12-15 feet wide. Bigberry manzanita
is really a very large woody shrub with an open branch structure and rounded
form. It can be pruned up to form a
small tree. Its open foliage provides
dappled shade, the perfect environment for smaller plants that like a little
protection from the summer sun.
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| Distinctive foliage of Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca). Photo (r) shows plant in Mother Nature's Backyard garden (plant is the gray-green shrub along the wall). |
The
foliage of Arctostaphylos glauca is
an attractive gray-green that contrasts nicely with surrounding plants (see photo
above). The leaves are simple, evergreen, alternate
and leathery; a waxy coating gives them their characteristic color. While
these features make the species drought tolerant, they also give plants a neat,
attractive appearance. Combine the
unique foliage with dark red bark and you have a winning combination. The characteristic red, peeling bark can be
seen even in young plants (like our specimen in Mother Nature’s Backyard).
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| Flowers and flower buds: Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) |
Manzanitas
generally bloom in winter or early spring in western S. California; Arctostaphylos glauca is no
exception. The small, white urn shaped
flowers can be seen beginning in December or January in most years. Flowers grow in fairly open clusters (panicles)
and mature plants will be covered with flowers in a good year. The flowers attract insect pollinators
(primarily bees) as well as butterflies and hummingbirds. Along
with the native currants and gooseberries (Ribes
species), manzanitas are an important source of nectar in winter and early
spring.
Bigberry
manzanita, as suggested by its common name, produces large fruits (about ½ inch diameter) compared to other
manzanitas. The name manzanita means ‘little apple’ and the
fruits of Bigberry manzanita do indeed superficially resemble small apples (see
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?where-taxon=Arctostaphylos+glauca
for
some good pictures). The fruits, which
contain a large ‘stone’ formed from fused nutlets (pits), ripen to a dark red
color in summer. Bigberry manzanita
begins producing consistently at about 20 years of age. Production increases until trees are at least
90 years old and individual plants are known to live more than 100 years in
natural settings.
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| Bark of Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) is red-brown. Insert shows bark on young tree. |
The
fruits of Arctostaphylos glauca are
showy, but they are also edible. Native
Californians collected ripe fruits in summer or fall. They were used either fresh or dried for
later use. Fresh berries were used to flavor cooked foods
and for making ‘manzanita cider’. We’ll
discuss how to make this refreshing beverage in a future posting. Dried fruits were ground into a meal and
used for making mush or cakes/bread – or added to soups and stews as a
flavoring/thickening agent. Although we
haven’t done so, manzanita berries can also be used to make jelly or a sweet
syrup. If you don’t use the berries,
they won’t go to waste. Fruit eating
birds and small animals will take care of the surplus!
Bigberry
manzanita can be a nice addition to the home garden – if you have the
conditions it needs. Like most
manzanitas, Arctostaphylos glauca
prefers a well-drained soil. In nature,
it often grows on sunny slopes with coarse, well-drained soils. If you have
these conditions, Bigberry manzanita will need little care once established.
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| Mature Bigberry manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca) Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California |
Growing
manzanitas in gardens with clay or clay-loam soils can be more of a
challenge. We included two plants (Arctostaphylos glauca and the cultivar Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard
McMinn’) in Mother
Nature’s Backyard because local gardeners love
manzanitas. But we’re well aware of
the challenges – and hope our choices succeed.
The trick will be to keep them
free of the fungal diseases to which they are prone.
We
watered our Bigberry manzanita every other week during the first summer (2012)
and only 2 times this summer (2013).
With a little luck, our Bigberry manzanita will get by without any
supplemental water from here on out. This
is a tough species that likes full sun and tolerates heat, drought, cold and
alkali and salty soils. Whether it will
survive our ‘junk yard’ soil remains to be seen.
One
trick if you have clay soils is to plant manzanitas on a 2-4 ft high mound or
berm. This will often provide
shallow-rooted species, like Arctostaphylos
glauca, with enough drainage to succeed, even in less than optimal soils. So if
you want to try a manzanita – but your soils are more clay than rocky - choose
one of the more garden-adapted species/cultivars and plant on a mound or berm. Then resist the urge to over-water once
your manzanita is established. Several
cultivars of A. glaucus are available
including ‘Los Angeles’, a natural variant from the Santa Monica Mountains and ‘Frazier
Park’.
The
leaves and litter of manzanitas contain acidic compounds that inhibit the
growth of some annual wildflowers. You
should be able to grow perennial grasses and plants near a manzanita if you
wish. If you have trouble with plants
near manzanitas, consider growing understory plants in containers, which should
alleviate the problem.
Bigberry
manzanita has many practical uses. It
has hard wood which can be used for woodworking or burned. Native Californians used the wood for pipes
and tool handles. The green leaves were
collected in fall and dried for medicinal uses. A weak tea (decoction) from the dried leaves
was used as a diuretic to treat kidney and urinary tract diseases. It
should be used sparingly as it may be toxic in large or frequent doses. The
tea was also used externally to treat poison oak. The leaves produce a lovely brown dye which
requires no mordant.
For a
gardening information sheet see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/arctostaphylos-glauca
For more
pictures of this plant see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/arctostaphylos-glauca-web-show
We
welcome your comments (below). You can
also send your questions to: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com
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