Arctostaphylos Baby Bear Manzanita Bush

Identification

Description

Use 'Baby Bear' manzanita for a hedge or cluster where you need air movement or a not quite hedge but an open presence of red and purple stems and green foliage are needed. The height seems to be about six feet and width between six and eight feet. The bush can be easily pruned to five feet both vertically and wide. The stem structure, width and height are all probably the best suited for hedges of any of the manzanitas. 'Howard McMinn' is good for a smaller four-five foot hedge, Use 'Baby Bear' manzanita for the six to eight foot hedge. The bright pink flowers are very showy and stay for about sixty days. Hummingbirds stake the plants out, watching for any other visitors(other hummingbirds and butterflies) that might get near. The purple trunk and red stems, with green grey foliage and pink flowers make this a wonderful plant to use as a step up from 'Howard McMinn' or step down to 'Harmony' or blend into a groundcover like Ceanothus 'Joyce Coulter' or 'Yankee Point'. This manzanita doesn't require much care or water after established in most of coastal California. In the desert area and the San Joaquin Valley they'll need some extra winter watering. 'Baby Bear' appears to tolerate most soils. A hybrid manzanita between Arctostaphylos stanfordiana bakeri 'Louis Edmunds'(now Arctostaphylos bakeri ssp. bakeri) and Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Sentinel'. In the wild Arctostaphylos densiflora forms miles of hybrids with Arctostaphylos stanfordiana and A. manzanita. As almost always, the naturally occurring hybrids can be very blossomy and stable. We had some 5 gallon 'Louis Edmunds' and 'Sentinel' in a small area that we covered with one small green house and two shade houses after a couple of years. The five gallons were long gone, but a few seedlings popped up. Since there really are not enough people here, things have a tendency to get ignored unless they burn up, blow up, or block a driveway. The greenhouse was abandoned and imploded. Under the old poly was this beautiful manzanita! The greenhouses were named the three bears. The 'Little Bear' or 'Baby Bear' had the seedling growing up through it. 'Baby Bear' looks like 'Sentinel' on steroids. The flowers are in larger clusters, the red bark and stems slightly larger and more open lending a graceful specimen look. Click here for more about California Manzanitas(Arctostaphylos). Birds eat the flowers and berries. Hummingbirds, butterflies, moths, native bees(no sting), and bummblebees all love this manzanita. The bush is beautiful and usually has wildlife hanging on it or under it.