Mahonia Gardening Tips

Mahonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Berberidaceae, comprising about 70 species. It is native to eastern Asia, the Himalayas, North America and Central America. Mahonia is named after Philadelphia horticulturist Bernard McMahon, in honoring him for introducing the plant from materials collected from Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Mahonia has striking foliage with glossy, dark green spiny leaves of 10-50cm long with 5-15 leaflets, and fragrant flowers in racemes (5-20cm long). The flowers bloom in winter or spring, follow by small, blue-black berries. Useful in filling up inhospitable corners.

Plant Mahonia in sun or shade and well-drained soil. Propagation of plants can be done through seed in spring, semi-ripe cuttings in summer or autumn, or by layer in spring. Usually trouble free but beware of rust from attacking the plant.

Mahonia aquifolium
Author: Jeantosti (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0)

Mahonia lomariifolia
Author: Andel Früh (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic)

Mahonia golden abundance
Author: Cliff Hutson (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic)

Mahonia dictyota
Author: Stan Shebs (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0)

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