Arctostaphylos Species, Bearberry, Kinnikinnick, Pinemat Manzanita

I grow this plant in Redding, CA; USDA zone 9b. It gets full sun in the summer with very high temperatures. Grows beautifully with mini...Read Moremal drip irrigation. Growing where I used to have a lawn with a redwood bark mulch.

It makes a beautiful groundcover in a landscape or is wonderful as a wild plant in the North or Mountains or along a beach. I am growing ...Read Morethe 'Massachusetts' cultivar here in southeast PA that does well in the right place in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest and some other areas of the USA. This species has such a large native range over North America that one should buy it from some local source or similar climate location. Morton Arboretum in northeast Illinois collected some specimens for their collections from Indiana Dunes State Park and Illinois State Beach Park that they have labeled as Arctostaphylos uva-ursi coactilis. The huge Midwest Groundcovers nursery in St Charles, IL, sells some in pots This plant grows the most in acid, infertile, sandy soils. It does not like rich, alkaline silty-clay or clay soils and is not used a lot in much of the Midwest.

I love this plant. It grows wild in northern Michigan in very dry, sandy soil along with wintergreen and so many other wildflowers. Somet...Read Moreimes you see it near beaches and sandy riverbanks.
My only problem in my urban yard in southern Michigan is rabbits. Though I see many guides referring to this plant as rabbitproof or rabbit resistant, I think not! With lots and lots of rabbits uncontrolled in an urban setting I am at my whit's end to keep them away. They love this one as much as they love my curled parsley. It seems likely rabbits would not choose this plant first in a wild setting due to its tough-looking, rubbery nature. Perhaps in the wild there is a greater array of delectable native plant material to choose from so rabbits naturally pass it by. However in my urban setting bearberry is like clover to a rabbit. Wish me luck. It's pretty ridiculous having a two-foot chicken wire fence covering a 2" high plant, but it's what I must do.

I bought a tiny bearberry plant at the Friends School Plant Sale and planted it in a fairly sunny spot, with rocks around it to protect i...Read Moret from squirrels. It's survived despite having tips bitten off, so I'm satisfied. Hopefully it will form a large glossy-green clump over time.