Cruiser
Omono
Arctostaphylos columbiana (hairy manzanita)
Salsa dish manzanita
- Thread starter Cruiser
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ponderingsage
Mame
Let us know if it pulls through.
I love the pot
I love the pot
Cruiser
Omono
Indeed. This collection is largely experimental; a chance to examine manzanita root structure, how it responds to summer collection, and how it fairs in pumice.
My wife chuckled when I tossed the salsa bowls into our shopping cart. She knew exactly what they’d get used for.
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
so cool, I've always wanted a manzanita, I hear they are hard to keep in captivity...
Desert O'Piñon
Omono
Cruiser
Omono
It’s perplexing that shrubs like this can thrive in such harsh conditions, yet seem to die so easily under domestication.
I think it can be done and will involve re-examining things from a more ecological and physiological standpoint.
JudyB
Queen of the Nuts
Well I wish you luck, Dan Robinson was trying to do them and had one going when we were at Elandan, but that was years ago.
NMbonsai
Mame
How is that little manzanita doing? It looked like an interesting project.
Cruiser
Omono
Little fella didn’t make it through a heat wave a few weeks ago.
The tiny pot dries so fast, provides no insulation, and is black which makes it heat up even faster in the sun. Combined with the need for full sun, fickleness/mystery of manzanita rooting habits, and dislike for excessive moisture…. It just didn’t work out. In retrospect the salsa dish should have been nested within a larger pot with wetter substrate.
I do have a similar, larger kinnikinnik collected around the same time which is doing ok. They are known to be just as difficult.
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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Keep us posted, I have never been able to get kinnikinnick to survive more than 14 months. I live within 3 miles from where I have collected, and yet I can't get it to adapt.
For those who know where I live, no, I did not collect from inside the state park or the preserve. There's some dune patches along the railroad right of ways as they enter a individual park.
For those who know where I live, no, I did not collect from inside the state park or the preserve. There's some dune patches along the railroad right of ways as they enter a individual park.
DonielDoom
Mame
Well said. I echo this sentiment.
There's one nursery here in Portland (One Green World) that blew me away with their range of manzanita stock. They had a range of 4", 1 gal, 3 gal, 5 gal, and maybe 10-15gal nursery cans on hand. Roughly 80-100 specimen that I recall. Seemed like everything looked vigorous and healthy compared to what I see with most nursery offerings. It shocked me and made me wonder if they've figured something out. This was last spring/summer, to clarify.
I think it wishful thinking and naivety. This was just one unrelated nursery visit that I stumbled through their selection and haven't followed up on since. After processing this and typing it out, I feel inclined to take a field trip
My manzanita (Arctostaphylos x 'Sunset') lasted ~2 years before it declined. That's a bit shocking considering it was one of my first trees. Inevitably it took a lot of abuse, I think.
NMbonsai
Mame
Manzanitas are not native to here (central New Mexico, high desert, +/- 5000 ft. elev.), but are usually avaliable at one of the local nurseries, in both 1 and 3 gallon sizes. Two years ago, after admiring their twisted trunks and red, shredding bark, I went ahead and got one in a 3 gallon pot. It was a named cultivar called 'Dr. Minn' or something like that. That year, I only reduced the top by removing a few branches for movement, trimming some growth tips, and doing some minimal wiring. I had read that they are very touchy about having their roots worked on, so I left it in the nursery soil, which was not in particularly poor condition.
The tree survived the winter, keeping most of it's foliage. That spring, I repotted it into a shallow training pot in bonsai soil, spreading the roots out to fill the space with minimal trimming.
It responded with lots of new leaves, followed by tiny pink conical flowers. I figured it had successfully made the transition to a prebonsai. However, as spring turned to summer and our dry heat arrived, the leaves literally shriveled up and the tree died within a month. Constant watering and misting made no difference at all. The picture included is from early June, 2024.
This year, one of our local club members decided to use one as a demo; trimming and wiring the top, and then repotting it a few weeks later. It was dead before our next monthly meeting.
I had read quite a lot on this forum about manzanitas, and I found only one member who had successfully kept them alive for more than a few years. I don't remember his name.
The tree survived the winter, keeping most of it's foliage. That spring, I repotted it into a shallow training pot in bonsai soil, spreading the roots out to fill the space with minimal trimming.
It responded with lots of new leaves, followed by tiny pink conical flowers. I figured it had successfully made the transition to a prebonsai. However, as spring turned to summer and our dry heat arrived, the leaves literally shriveled up and the tree died within a month. Constant watering and misting made no difference at all. The picture included is from early June, 2024.
This year, one of our local club members decided to use one as a demo; trimming and wiring the top, and then repotting it a few weeks later. It was dead before our next monthly meeting.
I had read quite a lot on this forum about manzanitas, and I found only one member who had successfully kept them alive for more than a few years. I don't remember his name.
Cruiser
Omono
If this thing makes it to summer 2026 I’ll create a progression thread. For now, here’s the kinnikinnick.
Collected August 2024
Current. “Ok” may have been an overstatement. The main trunk is still alive but fungus infected most foliage last winter. New leaves have emerged this season. Small ground-cover sections of the shrub are doing alright. The dead leaves should get cleared out…
NMbonsai
Mame
What a beautiful trunk! And nice deadwood accent as well. Has it ever flowered for you?
Potawatomi13
Imperial Masterpiece
Greg Brendan (sp?)
Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
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@Cruiser - hope that manzanita survives, its really nice.
@mihai091 - manzanita is in genus Arctostaphylos in Family Ericaceae subfamily Arbutoideae
arbusto unedo = Arbustus unedo, which is also in the subfamily Arbutoideae
Botanical taxonomy suggests the two species are different but closely related. Arbustus unedo is European genus, Arctostaphylos is strictly western hemisphere,
They look similar because they are related. One significant difference is Arbustus can become a single trunk tree over 10 meters tall. Arctostaphylos is usually a multi trunk shrub rarely much over 2 meters. One or 2 species can get taller but none will get over 4 or 5 meters.
@mihai091 - manzanita is in genus Arctostaphylos in Family Ericaceae subfamily Arbutoideae
arbusto unedo = Arbustus unedo, which is also in the subfamily Arbutoideae
Botanical taxonomy suggests the two species are different but closely related. Arbustus unedo is European genus, Arctostaphylos is strictly western hemisphere,
They look similar because they are related. One significant difference is Arbustus can become a single trunk tree over 10 meters tall. Arctostaphylos is usually a multi trunk shrub rarely much over 2 meters. One or 2 species can get taller but none will get over 4 or 5 meters.
Cruiser
Omono
Thanks. No flowers yet.
The trunk is unusual for it’s tree-like appearance. Yet one branch arches from the canopy back into the soil.
I was convinced it was hairy manzanita at first. It is the only species found around here. Close inspection of the leaves and a lack of hair shows it to be kinnikinnik….or possibly a hybrid of the two.
