Manzanita Tree 2006

My husband for three years, since retiring from the US Air Force after 22 1/2 years, owns a small lawn maintenance business with himself only as CEO, Foreman, and Laborer. He has utilized the services of our boys as laborers, also.  One day in early fall, 2006 he and my 15 year old youngest son had been working and a customer had a tree in a pot that he wanted my husband to dispose of.  So he loaded it up and headed for home.  We keep a rather large compost, due to the many materials my husband brings home.  So my son decided the tree was pretty and he would display this rather unusual  tree near the compost.  The compost pile is at the gate to our driveway. 
Later that day I was driving past the newly acquired 'manzanita' tree and I stopped.  I am a native of Nevada County and had never seen a "manzanita" tree quite like this one.  It had the largest pink blooms all over it.  They appeared to be growing on each limb of this 3 ft tall tree.  The way it was positioned I could not see the pot it was sitting in and thought it was actually growing out of the compost.  Why had I not noticed this before? 
Being in a bit of a hurry I didn't tarry too long, however, I got to thinking about the five acres of manzanita we owned and if this manzanita had bloomed so beautifully then all of mine would.  So when I arrived home later, that day, instead of rushing to my home duties I took a walk around the property looking for blooms on the manzanita trees.  Not one bud on any of our manzanita.  So the incident was filed in the "ask my husband later" part of my mind and on with life.   This was long before we all had phones that had unlimited calls and we could just pick up the phone, text, and get the answers immediately. 
So a week or so went by and then I ask him why the manzanita was growing there and he laughs, because it was a fake plant.  Not even a manzanita, just painted to look very similar and the blossoms were not real at all. 
Back to studying the native plants, flowers, and trees for me.

This is a true Manzanita bush in bloom.


This is the full growth of Manzanita Tree that would overtake our property with the poison oak, if we allowed it. 



I have loved Manzanita since I was a child.  I used to make forts under the shelter of the tree, played hide and seek with neighbor kids, and played pretend within the little forests of the trees.  I enjoy the red bark, such a unique tree.  When we moved to our property and started clearing the trees, I sold the trees in parts.  Terrarium Logs, Money Trees, Marshmallow Roasting Sticks, etc.  As with most of my other sales efforts, I made little or no money with this venture, also.