{"id":4776,"date":"2019-01-29T04:26:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T11:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forestcamping.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/02\/a-flavorite-manzanita-plant\/"},"modified":"2018-12-12T05:52:54","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T12:52:54","slug":"signs-of-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forestcamping.com\/dow\/suzi\/signs-of-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for Signs of Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"

Okay, the end of January may be a little early to be looking for any signs of springs but I am so ready!\u00a0 There are two signs of Spring I look for each year and they generally happen within a week of each other:\u00a0 lazy circling turkey vultures over the canyon; and, manzanita blooming on the western mountainsides.<\/p>\n

Turkey Vultures – an very ugly bird<\/h2>\n

While the turkey vulture is possibly the ugliest bird I have ever seen, a manzanita is, in my opinion, a most exquisite plant.\u00a0 I have seen manzanita grow to the size of apple trees (which maybe appropriate since the word \u201cmanzanita\u201d is Spanish for \u201clittle apple\u201d) but here in southeast Arizona they rarely grow larger then a VW bug.\u00a0 As you can see from these photos, the manzanita has smooth red bark and green leathery egg-shaped leaves.\u00a0 The inverted urn-shaped blossom is about the size of a dried split pea and grows in grape-like clusters.\u00a0 Each blossom will produce a dark red fruit (these origin of its name) containing one or more seeds.\u00a0 There is no fragrance that I can detect but I would say, this is a plant that needs none.<\/p>\n

Manzanita – a bush of little apples<\/h2>\n

The manzanita has to be one of my favorite plants, right up there with dogwood and Mountain laurel.\u00a0 Although I have heard of some homoeopathic uses of manzanita, I can find no support to those applications.\u00a0 However, the manzanita is a delightful plant for ones garden.\u00a0\u00a0 While I have no manzanita in my yard, \u201cmy garden\u201d is a whole mountainside with dozens of this beautiful red and green bush covered in diminutive blossoms.<\/p>\n

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The dark red bark looks orange in the morning light.\u00a0 Notice the leathery oval leaves.\u00a0 Both the leaves and smooth bark help the manzanita survive the blustering summer temperatures.<\/p>\n

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The immature blossoms have a rich vibrant color that will pale as the mature until they are nearly white.\u00a0 The dogs like manzanita because the shade formed by its thick vegetation is so dark and cool.<\/p>\n

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