I have several bearberry plants in a garden area, planted 2-3 years ago. They've done very well, but yesterday I noticed all the leaves have fallen off the branches. I don't recall this happening after other winters. Is this normal?

I've seen it in specialist nurseries and I know that Woodbank had it before they retired. I have seeds of A. nevadensis awaiting clearance at AQIS - they've been there nearly 6 months!!!

Thanks for such a quick response. I've heard Bearberry is hard to get going from seed and maybe that's one of the reasons I want it. It's a challenge growing a lot of things in Canberra with extremes of heat and cold. Thanks again Sybil

80,000 year old aspen grove, Remarkable indeed seeing how they would have been underneath a mile of ice at the time :) Recently my part of the country hosted their annual nursery trade show with 960 vendors. Wanna know how many were displaying bearberry??? Zilch, Nada, Nary a one. Its just not a plant seen very often around here. I've seen it only one time in a cultivated setting, along a govt building in DC where it grew happily. Undeterred by bad luck at the trade show I did in fact find a wholesale nursery in New Jersey with a beautiful supply of plants, not that it bothers me but this is clearly a clone, no berries.