Mahonia offers year-round beauty in colorful settings

I was at an office complex last week when I noticed that the mahonias outside the door were already budding up, telling me it will not be long until we have sprays of yellow blossoms. It's like a signal, groundhog or no, that spring is around the corner.

From my perspective, the mahonia deserves a place in the landscape similar to a piece of statuary: as an accent near the front door or just off the patio. I also have seen very nice mass plantings.

The mahonia is in the barberry family and has distinctive evergreen foliage that changes colors throughout the year. This plant seems to always be attractive and command attention.

Mahonias are not all that hard to find at garden centers, and now is a good time to begin shopping. It could make an excellent Valentine's Day gift for that special loved one.

Mahonias can be grown over a large area of the country, even in full sun. I'll preface that by saying the happiest mahonias in the South receive only filtered light during the hottest times of the day. The mahonia looks best as part of a shrub bed. You will be most unhappy growing the mahonia mixed with turf.

Prepare your soil by incorporating 3 to 4 inches of organic matter and 2 pounds of a 5-10-5 fertilizer per 100 square feet of planting area. Till the soil 8 to 10 inches deep.

Dig the planting hole three to five times as wide as the root ball, but no deeper. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil to two-thirds the depth. Tamp the soil and water to settle, add the remaining backfill, repeat the process and apply mulch.

Moisture is critical the first year, so water deeply when required. Feed established plantings in March with a slow-release, balanced fertilizer such as an 8-8-8 at the rate of 1 pound per 100 square feet.

We grow two basic types, or species, of mahonias in the South. The Mahonia aquifolium, also called Oregon Holly Grape, reaches 3 to 5 feet in height. The new, hollylike growth has a bronze-to-red coloring that turns to deep, glossy green. The leaves are purple-red in the fall.

This plant is sold generically, but there are varieties such as Golden Abundance, King's Ransom and Flame that have gained attention.

The other species is Mahonia bealei, or Leatherleaf Mahonia. There seems to be a few more suppliers of the Leatherleaf Mahonia than the Oregon Holly Grape. It is the taller of the two, reaching 4 to 6 feet in height, but occasionally coming close to 10 feet. The mature width will be 4 to 5 feet. These two mahonias are strikingly exotic in the landscape and showy at a time when not much else is happening.

Take a survey of your landscape to see where mahonias might add enjoyment with their beauty.

Horticulturist Norman Winter is the author of Paradise Found: Growing tropicals in your own backyard, Mississippi Gardener's Guide and Tough-as-Nails Flowers For the South. Readers may write to him at normanwext.msstate.edu.