Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi: Evergreen Carpet That Laughs at Sand and Salt

Glossy evergreen leaves that blush bronze in winter, plus little pink-white bells and bright red berries. Bearberry is native, low and built for salt, sun and lean soil. THE GROUND COVER WITH A BACKBONE.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
• Common Name: Bearberry, Kinnikinnick
• Height: 10–20 cm (4–8 in)
• Spread: 90 cm (3 ft) or more over time, rooting as it creeps
• Flowers: Small, urn-shaped, white blushed with pink, in nodding clusters, followed by bright red berries
• Bloom Time: Mid spring to early summer (April to June)
• Foliage: Small, glossy, leathery evergreen leaves that often take on bronze or reddish tones in winter
• Features: Evergreen, salt tolerant

Where to Plant: Bearberry is a ground cover for tough, dry, sunny ground: sandy banks, slopes, rock gardens, the edge of a gravel path or the strip along a driveway. It holds sandy soil in place and handles salt spray better than most. It isn't a plant for heavy clay, so if your soil stays wet or dense, give it a raised bed or a sandy berm.

Companion Plants: Let bearberry carpet the front of a dry, sunny native bed in sandy or gravelly soil. Campanula rotundifolia nods pale blue harebells at 15 to 45 cm from June to September. Oenothera fruticosa adds bright yellow sundrops at 30 to 60 cm from June to August. Agastache foeniculum brings lavender-blue anise hyssop spikes at 60 to 120 cm from July to September. Elymus canadensis stands behind at 90 to 150 cm with nodding, bristly seed heads.

Plant Care: Plant in spring, in sandy or gritty, well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Skip the compost and fertilizer. Rich soil and wet feet are what kill it most often. Water regularly through the first season while the roots settle, then let it be. Expect slow growth for the first year or two before it starts to knit together. Mulch with fine bark or gravel between plants to keep weeds down while it fills in. No cutting back is needed. Trim only to tidy a stray stem. It resents root disturbance, so don't plan to move or divide it.

History: Both parts of the name mean the same thing: Arctostaphylos comes from the Greek for bear and bunch of grapes, and uva-ursi is the Latin for bear's grape. The name kinnikinnick comes from an Algonquian word for a mixture, because Indigenous peoples blended the leaves into smoking mixtures.

Final Thoughts: Plant it on a slope, a sunny bank or by the road where salt kills everything else. The early bees will thank you. LOW PROFILE, HIGH STANDARDS.