I can't answer your question as to exactly how hardy they are, but I would certainly try them. I have this vague notion that 'Howard McMinn' at least is fully hardy in Seattle, though I can't say where I have seen one. Their hardiness will be impacted by how you treat them in the summer as well - baby them too much and they will be a lot less hardy to cold when winter comes. I would put them in the sunniest, best-drained part of your garden regardless of where it is likely to be colder. Wind is no problem for these plants. Where did you find them, out of curiousity? It's funny, I was just potting up manzanita cuttings of various kinds this morning, and I planted a 'Pacific Mist' in the ground. And I have a bunch of seeds to plant that I collected in the southwest last September.

Thanks for the reply and encouragement, Ian. I found them at Shorty's on Mill Plain in Vancouver, WA. I love the foliage and think they'll serve well for part of the landscaping we're doing. Drought-tolerance is important for long-term care so that was another plus.

I take it they root easily? Can you share some quick tips on propagation?

Thanks again!

Some of them root easily and some of them not. In fact I did some wild collections (cuttings) of A. columbiana last fall and rooting success varied from plant to plant even if they were right beside each other. I think most named forms root rather easily. I did them in late Oct/early Nov and used dip and gro. They sat outdoors on bottom heat all winter in part shade, in pots of my magical perlite/peat/cocofibre mix. I sure hope I can get my collections from the Southwest (quite a few of which must be A. pungens) to grow; they include a lot of very cool plants, and I hope they will give me some forms that are easy to propagate from cuttings in the future.

Mike Lee (Colvos Creek) has told me of a plant or planting of 'Howard' in a Seattle garden going back many years. A short time ago this cultivar was carried by more than one local garden center. While still in a 5 gallon pot it seems a reduced size version of the Arctostaphylos manzanita ('Dr. Hurd'?) with greenish leaves and dark bark that is here and there elsewhere in Seattle (if these are, in fact, all the same form).

WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has 'Howard' rated Sunset 7 (Rogue Valley, Sierra Foothills) and 'Sunset' rated Sunset 6 (Willamette Valley) so whoever worked on that section apparently didn't think these would be tender up here, but rather would find the summer too cool. (If anything, Sunset 6 is consistently colder in winter than Sunset 5, with the Oregon portion of Sunset 7 at least not being too much different in this respect).

I did see some 'Howard' at Emery's Garden loaded with that goofy earlike leaf gall, like you sometimes see on A. urva-ursi.