Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Friday - April 24, 2015
From: Fort Worth, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Planting, Edible Plants, Shrubs
Title: Arctostaphylos Hanging Basket for Texas
Answered by: Anne Van Nest
QUESTION:
I would like to plant an Arctostaphylos uva-ursi in a hanging basket with a coco liner. Will this work, or will the roots grow too long? it's the 'Massachusetts' cultivar.ANSWER:
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick or Red Bearberry) is a great native shrub with evergreen leaves, delicate white and pink bell flowers and edible reddish purple fruit. But it does like cooler sites, particularly along the coast and in mountainous areas of Northern North America. Kinnikinnick willl probably grow in a large hanging basket but it won't thrive unless it is in a cooler site. The Missouri Botanical Gardens webpage for the cultivar 'Massachusetts' lists it as being able to grow in USDA zones 2-6. Fort Worth is in USDA zone 8a.
Our website has the following description ...
Red bearberry is a trailing, evergreen shrub with paddle-shaped leaves on flexible branches. The thick, leathery leaves, rolled under at the edges, are yellow-green in spring, dark-green in summer, and reddish-purple in the fall. Nodding clusters of small, bell-shaped, pink or white flowers occur on bright-red stems. Flowers in racemes on short branches. Bright-red berries succeed the flowers and persist into winter. This ground-trailing shrub has the papery, reddish, exfoliating bark typical of woody plants in northern climates. It is frequently seen as a ground cover in sandy areas such as the New Jersey pine barrens. It is very common on Cape Cod, where it covers vast areas in open, sandy, pine-studded communities. Its complete range is the largest of any in its genus, and it is the only Arctostaphylos species to occur outside of North America, ranging across northern Eurasia and across northern North America south to the mountains of Virginia, California, Arizona, and New Mexico, with isolated populations in the mountains of Guatemala in Central America. It is a hardy shrub for landscaping rocky or sandy sites.
There is one Arctostaphylos that grows in Texas and it is A. pungens (Pointleaf manzanita), but it grows much taller than A. uva-ursi and would not be appropriate for a hanging basket.
A rounded shrub, often forming dense thickets. Branches with smooth red-brown bark. A number of small mammals and ground birds eat the berries of this plant. Grows across the Southwest from California and Nevada to Texas. Mixed shrub and sagebrush communities, pinyon-juniper woods, drained sandy to gravelly areas, canyons, lower mountain slopes. This Arctostaphylos is also has edible fruit (for mammals and birds. Indigenous peoples used the fruit to make a cider-like drink for humans).
From the Image Gallery
More Shrubs Questions
Evergreen, flowering hedge shrub for GA.
February 12, 2009 - Hi, there! I am looking for a shrub for planting as a hedge in Decatur, GA. I have hard acidic clay and I would like an evergreen flowering shrub to line the edges of my backyard to separate it from...
view the full question and answer
Planting Candelilla from Austin
July 12, 2013 - Good Morning and thank you for answering my question!! I am interested in planting a Candelilla plant (it looks like small bamboo plants growing only a 2-3 feet tall. I heard it is supposed to be ver...
view the full question and answer
Evergreen Trees for Low Maintenance Screen
April 18, 2015 - We live in Pacifica, CA and are looking to plant a row of low maintenance trees in our back yard along our fence, that grow to be a maximum of 15' high, that stay green year round. What do you recomm...
view the full question and answer
Bugs eating new growth on Mountain Laurel shrubs from Dripping Springs TX
April 02, 2013 - What is eating the new growth on my mountain laurel shrubs? One plant has red bugs and the other has black (could they be love bugs?). Is there something I can do to preserve the new growth?
view the full question and answer
Savannah Holly True to Seed?
July 03, 2016 - I read your information on Savannah holly. Does this mean that none of the berries will produce a Savannah holly (Ilex x attenuata) but will either be Ilex cassine or Ilex opaca seeds?
Thanks so much...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |