San Marcos Growers LogoSan Marcos Growers
New User
Wholesale Login
Enter Password
Home Products Purchase Gardens About Us Resources Contact Us
Nursery Closure
Search Utilities
Plant Database
Search Plant Name
Detail Search Avanced Search Go Button
Search by size, origins,
details, cultural needs
Website Search Search Website GO button
Search for any word
Site Map
Retail Locator
Plant Listings

PLANT TYPE
PLANT GEOGRAPHY
PLANT INDEX
ALL PLANT LIST
PLANT IMAGE INDEX
PLANT INTROS
SPECIALTY CROPS
NEW  2024 PLANTS

PRIME LIST
  for OCTOBER


Natives at San Marcos Growers
Succulents at San Marcos Growers
 Weather Station

 
Products > Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley'
 
Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' - Manzanita
   
Image of Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley'
[2nd Image]
Habit and Cultural Information
Category: Shrub
Family: Ericaceae (Heaths, Heathers)
Origin: California (U.S.A.)
California Native (Plant List): Yes
Evergreen: Yes
Flower Color: Pink
Bloomtime: Summer
Parentage: (A. pajaroensis x A. bakeri?)
Height: 1-3 feet
Width: 4-6 feet
Exposure: Full Sun
Summer Dry: Yes
Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs
Winter Hardiness: 0-10° F
Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' (Manzanita) – An attractive low growing shrub with a mounding habit to 2-3 feet tall by up to 6 (perhaps to 10) feet wide. New growth in spring has foliage that is an attractive orange-red that fades to gray-green by mid-summer. Clusters of pink flowers are abundant over a long blooming season followed by berries that are purple-red.

Plant in full sun to light shade and irrigate occasionally to not at all. Cold hardy to 5° F. A dependable tall ground cover selection with year-round interest.

Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' is a volunteer seedling that was found by John Dourley, the former Superintendent of Horticulture at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (now California Botanic Garden) in an area having hybrid manzanitas at the botanic garden and is of unknown parentage, though some speculate it to be a hybrid between Arctostaphylos pajaroensis and A. bakeri. It was named for John Dourley by Mike Evans of Tree of Life Nursery. There seems to be discrepancies on the size description for this plant, perhaps due to climatic or cultural conditions, as Las Pilitas Nursery notes it growing much smaller in their hotter and drier conditions. We have grown this attractive plant since 2001.

The name Arctostaphylos was given to the genus by the French (of Scottish descent) naturalist Michel Adanson (1707-1778), who first named the circumboreal Arctostaphylos uva-ursi for plants found in Europe. The name comes from the Greek words 'arktos' meaning "bear" and 'staphyle' meaning "grapes" in reference to bears eating the fruit and the common name Bearberry also references this fact. 

This information about Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' displayed is based on research conducted in our horticultural library and from reliable online resources. We also will relate observations made about it as it grows in our nursery gardens and other gardens we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we receive from others and we welcome hearing from anyone with additional information, particularly if they can share any cultural information that would aid others in growing it.

 
  [MORE INFO]