AN ALL ROUND WINNER (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

MAHONIA - AN ALL ROUND WINNER

9:14am Wednesday 20th March 2013 in Blogs By Ann Janes

When catching up on Gardeners’ World I was delighted to see Carol Klein extolling the joys of the mahonia family.  This has long been one of my favourite shrubs and I have always felt it is underrated – can this be because it is really easy to grow and once established needs very little attention?  Unfortunately it so often seems that in order to be valued things have to be difficult and complicated.

So what do mahonias have to offer – they are easy to grow, make a real statement in the garden, and have wonderfully perfumed flowers – all of which makes them excellent value.  As a family they will tolerate most types of soil with the exception of very wet ground.  They thrive in either a sunny or shady position and with their architectural foliage can be used to make a spectacular specimen plant or even trained as a hedge.

They really come into their own on the dark, gloomy days that all too often we experience in winter.  Their bright yellow flowers can brighten the garden like rays of sunshine and some varieties, given the right conditions, will give vivid autumn colour as their older leaves turn red.

There are quite a few to choose from.  Probably the best known is ‘Charity’ which flowers in late autumn and winter producing thick clusters of flower spikes with a wonderful scent.  Mahonia aquifolium, commonly known as the ‘Oregon Grape’, is also popular. This plant not only produces bright yellow flowers these are followed in the spring by very dark blue fruits. 

As if all of the above isn’t enough – mahonias rarely suffer from pests and diseases and are easy to propagate.  An all round winner!

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