Quercus fusiformis 'Quartz Mountain': keeping the "live" in live oak, even in the dead of winter, 2020-2021.

 Since it's been almost a year since my last post, and since that post featured my Quercus fusiformis 'Quartz Mountain' (or Quartz Mountain ecotype), I figured I'd post a couple pictures I took today.

Quercus fusiformis 'Quartz Mountain', Milliken, CO. Photo by William Jury, January, 2021.

While much of the surrounding landscape has transitioned to "Colorado Winter Brown", the Plateau Live Oak is still green. A more somber-toned green with shades of burgundy, but green nonetheless. I suspect this is normal, though I believe the burgundy is more pronounced this year since I have only covered it on a few of the coldest nights, when temperatures dropped to 0F/-18C or lower. About the only other green in this photo comes courtesy of the Hesperaloe parviflora in the left background and a few blades from a Yucca elata poking in from the right. There is a nice Arctostaphylos x coloradensis 'Chieftain' a few feet to the right, which certainly adds to the dry subtropical look in summer. It remains green throughout the year, showing off the rich cinnamon-colored bark common to many species of manzanita. This hybrid was discovered on another plateau, the Uncompahgre, and is believed to be a cross between the cosmopolitan groundcover kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and the bushier Pinemat Manzanita (Arctostaphylos nevadensis). 

Arctostaphylos x coloradensis 'Chieftain', one of a few manzanita species and hybrids hardy enough to handle Colorado's cold winters. Yucca elata and Y. filamentosa 'Color Guard' in the background. Photo by William Jury.

Manzanitas are one of my favorite shrubs, or in some species, small trees. In a future post I will delve into manzanitas and their larger relatives, the madrones. My advice for success with manzanitas and kinnikinnick (and, presumably, madrones)? Plant it where it likes it and leave it alone. How do you know if it will like where you've planted it? You'll know if it doesn't die. I know there's more science behind the ecology and horticulture of Arctostaphylos; unfortunately, manzanitas don't read the scientific papers. I'll just say I got lucky.

Quercus fusiformis 'Quartz Mountain', with Yucca schottii in the background. Milliken, CO. Photo by William Jury, January, 2021.

And a photograph from the other direction. Again, the only other green in the area is another yucca, this time Yucca schottii. It looks a little rough because summer before last I had to move it from where the greenhouse was going to be built, and it spent most of that year in a pot with less-than-perfect drainage. I planted it shortly before our first hard freeze last winter, and it spent last summer recovering. I didn't think it was going to survive the neglect while I was pouring all of my time and energy into designing and building the greenhouse, but it has. Yucca schottii is a pretty cool yucca, so I'm glad it's thriving now.