Rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea)

Rusty menziesia (Menziesia ferruginea)
Wikimedia Commons — Walter Siegmund (talk) — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

At a glance

Lifecycle
Perennial (hardy)
Exposure
Full sun
Frost limit
−23.3 °C

Cultivation

Requires a lime-free humus-rich moist soil in sun or light shade. Dormant plants are hardy to about -20°c. Flowers are produced on the previous years wood. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus.

Propagation

Seed - best sown in a shady position in a cold frame in the autumn. Plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer once they are more than 15cm tall. Cuttings of semi-ripe wood, 2 - 5cm with a heel, May/June in a frame. Keep them shaded. The cuttings are very slow to root but usually a good percentage will succeed. Division in early spring just before active growth begins. Layering.

Edible uses

Fruit - fresh or dried. The nectar has been sucked from the flowers to sweeten the mouth.

Medicinal uses

The leaves are cardiac.

Habitat

Woodland shade below 300 metres in California.

Native range

Western N. America.

Scientific synonyms Rhododendron menziesii