I am in taiwan and would LOVE to get some arbutus manzanita growing here. is it possible for them to tolerate such heat? the winterrs here may reach 1-2 weeks down to 10 C. i can build around teh wet to allow good drainage but not sure if the heat is ok. and do the seeds need cold stratification to germinate? also does anyone know the latin name for the smaller forms on arbutus that grow in southern BC. they are a small shrub and branch a LOT. tons of small berries and the black bears LOVE them (the poo is almost all that berry sometimes). i saw these in the mountains on vancouver island especially in places that have been logged and not growing back well (rocky/dry). Arbutus canariensis is my backup, i think that could grow here fine. thanks for any input.
I'd guess your best chance for success would be with Mexican Madrone (Arbutus xalapensis), if you can get it. It comes from a climate fairly similar to Taiwan. The ones in Vancouver are Arbutus menziesii.
yes the seeds i collected were from vancouver island. do you know the small shruby species i am talking about? it is quite plentifull along logging roads and such in south-western bc.
Perhaps way off target, but could the shrub be Gaultheria? In some growing conditions these will get fairly tall, and do have a reddish stem on older wood. http://www.bahiker.com/plantpages/salal.html
If you think it's a manzanita the two candidates for this region are A. columbiana and where it occurs with the creeping, mat-forming A. uva-ursi an intermediate form, A. X columbiana appears. None of these are likely to appreciate the hot and wet summers of your area, they are dryland plants. Even here in their native region they are prone to fungus problems.
definatly not salal. the berries are red and seedy, similar to the tall arbutus so common on the bc coast. but these are short (maybe up to 10' tops) and branch from the ground up. the one i am mentioning does indeed look very much like A. columbiana. Thank you very much! i noticed the bears tend to eat a LOT o ftheir berries, are they safe for people to eat as well? may prove to be good bush food for hikers, although probably woody. and what are your thoughts on them in this type of environment? i can keep them somehwat dry. we grow cacti outdoors here. they will get VERY wet for a few days then dry out completly. is that too wet? its not liek the wet coast where it may stay wet, at least a little, for a month or more. here it is short and heavy.
