McMinn manzanita

Arctostaphylos ‘Howard McMinn’

Description

The Howard McMinn manzanita grows into medium to large mounding shrub 8-10 ft. tall with an equal spread. Long and pointed medium green leaves are held upright on mahogany colored stems. Flowers are among the showiest of all manzanitas; large clusters of light pink to white flowers can cover the plant during late winter.

Howard McMinn manzanita has been grown in California gardens for more than 50 years and has proven to be one of the most garden tolerant and popular shrub manzanitas. It is well adapted to the Inland Empire when grown in areas shaded from hot afternoon sun. It shows greater tolerance to traditional garden care and watering than most manzanitas, but soils must still be well-drained and only low amounts of summer watering is advised. Mature plants can be pruned to reveal elegant and colorful branching character that provides excellent value for specimen and feature plantings near patios, in raised planters and in containers. This is one of the few species of manzanita that shows tolerance of regular clipping to shape into hedges.

Plant Type: Shrub, Native
Foliage Character: Evergreen
Habit: Spreading, Mounding
Growth Rate: Moderate
Foliage Color: Medium green
Flower Color: Pink, White
Flower Season: Winter, Spring
Soil Adaptations: Well-draining soil, Clay, Acidic soil
Exposure Adaptations: Morning sun, Drought, All day sun
Function: Wildlife value, Specimen, Hummingbird plant, Foundations, California native, Hedge, Borders
Height: 6 ft. – 8 ft.
Width: 6 ft. – 8 ft.

Watering Schedule: Low 1

For most situations, we recommend watering deeply every 3-4 weeks after establishment.

Learn how to apply this watering schedule to your landscape on our How to water waterwise and California native plants page.

Important Notes

These are general guidelines. Always observe and adjust as necessary for your landscape.
If it rains over 1” you will likely not need to water for at least another 3-4 weeks. Before watering again, check the soil. It should be significantly dry at least 4” below the soil surface before watering.
If you have a “smart timer” or weather sensitive irrigation controller, it is best not to use the automatic weather adjusting features for plants in this category. While very useful for watering higher water demanding plants, those in this category have natural drought adaptations which mean they do not need to be watered more in warm weather. Using the weather adjusting features will result in either overwatering in summer or underwatering in fall and spring.
It is important to group plants with the same water needs together in the landscape to avoid needing to over or under water plants when running your irrigation system.

In general Manzanitas do not need much pruning. Carefully select the right species or cultivar for a fully mature size that fits your space well. Carefully thin or “skirt up” manzanitas to expose beautiful branches in November, after risk of sunburn from long summer days has passed (1). Howard McMinn Manzantia is often used as an informal hedge. In this situation, prune, hedge, or pinch back branch tips after winter-spring flowering to encourage denser foliage (5). Manzanitas occasionally get bright red growths on the edges of leaves. This is manzanita leaf gall aphid, a small insect that causes the plant to create this reaction. It is generally not threatening in healthy plants, but can spread. Growth affected by leaf gall aphid may be pruned out after winter-spring flowering (4). References