Description

Howard McMinn is perhaps the best known of California’s many manzanita species. It is certainly the selection most widely planted. It is one of the many selections of the Vine Hill manzanita, a rare endemic of Sonoma County. Howard McMinn grows as an upright shrub to six feet or so with smooth red bark and solid green leaves. It may be pruned into an attractive little tree or kept low and densely green with regular tip pruning. The winter flowers are white to light pink. These are followed by clusters of small ocre fruit. Howard McMinn thrives in soil of at least medium drainage and partial shade to full sun. Very little water is needed once this manzanita is established. Howard McMinn responds well to light pruning, but note that flowers will only be produced on new growth, so regular tip pruning may result in no flowers.