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. 

The information displayed on this page about Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.