<b>Trees, Ornamental & Bedding Plant:</b> Plant snapshot: Mahonia × media

Photo: Plant Publicity Hound Specifics Name: Mahonia × media Common name: Grape holly Description: Evergreen shrub with bright, fragrant, yellow flower spikes that appear in December. In spring, it’s covered with clusters of small, blue berries. Habit: 8-15 feet tall (usually shorter in the garden) with stout, unbranched to short-branched stems. Hardiness: USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9.

When a large portion of the garden is dull and dreary, Mahonia × media provides a jolt of color in December. Small, fragrant yellow flowers are clumped together in clusters. Deep green and slightly glossy foliage acts as a nice backdrop to the yellow flowers.

One way to maximize the benefit of this plant is to grow it at the back of borders so when the plants in front die back, the flowers and foliage of the mahonia are clear to see. It needs shade at least in the afternoon to keep its deep green color. Plant in a rich, well-drained soil.

Mahonia × media grows up to 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide with stout unbranched to short-branched stems. Leaves are pinnately divided into about 19 leaflets that have spiny teeth on the edges similar to holly. Each leaf may be up to 24 inches long.

Flower racemes are terminal and numerous – up to 20 per cluster – and they are 10-14 inches long. Profuse, blue to black fruit appear in spring.

It’s hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9. Plants respond to a March application of slow-acting, balanced fertilizer by producing more flowers and deeper green leaves. To produce more basal branches, remove new leaf buds of young plants in early spring for the first two or three years.

Watch for leaf rusts, white fly or a looper caterpillar. Some good companion plants include Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata,’ Stachyurus praecox, Helleborus × hybridus, Carex testacea and Cyclamen coum.
 

The author is editor of Nursery Management & Production.