Why I’m mad for mahonias
They’re evergreen, named after an Irishman, smell divine and flower magnificently – Monty Don says he’s finally fallen for their charms
UNTIL recently, I didn’t so much grow mahonias as act as custodian to the odd specimen – much in the same way as you might happen to have a plum tree in the corner of the garden or a patch of lawn. They seemed to me to be plants that were perfectly garden-worthy if you had them but not worth actually buying and planting into the garden. The fact that I’m not sure of the variety of some of my mahonias is a measure of this.
I am happy to say I now acknowledge this as ridiculously wrong and I’m issuing a grovelling apology to all mahonia lovers while belatedly joining their ranks.
Mahonias are a joy and one that is almost impossible to replicate or replace with any other plant. First and foremost they are evergreen and as the years go by I am increasingly respectful of and grateful for plants that hold their green, whatever its shade, throughout the year. Our winters are, in the countryside at least, brown and grey and desperately need as much green as possible to lift and enrich these dreary monotones.
Secondly, they flower magnificently, holding great sprays of yellow flowers ranging, according to the variety, from pale primrose to a rich lemon. They’re never garish but always bright, cheering and perfectly in tune with the time of year, although the earliest varieties will have sprays of flower in November and the latest last into May.
Thirdly, they have a lovely fragrance reminiscent of lily of the valley and a sprig in a vase will fill a room with delicious scent.
Fourthly, they can make really substantial shrubs that will grow very happily in dry shade and so fill an otherwise awkward corner. It is this capacity, I think, that has led some of us to disrespect them a little. If they needed pandering to with the very best that our gardens could offer, we might all revere them a little more.
However, there is a slight drawback that must be acknowledged, which is that they do have rather prickly leaves. Too close an encounter with a large mahonia will leave the toughest gardener coming off second best. Some of the most common varieties like Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ are among the prickliest. But ‘Soft Caress’ is, as the name suggests, a spine-free variety that flowers very early in autumn or even late summer. It is a plant I intend to add to my garden this year.
The first to bloom in my garden is M x media ‘Lionel Fortescue’, which draws the autumnal bees irresistibly to its upright sprays of lemon flowers. I have also planted ‘Winter Sun’, which is smaller than either ‘Charity’ or ‘Lionel Fortescue’ and has deliciously scented flowers that are at their best before Christmas.
Mahonias are named after an Irishman, Bernard McMahon, who emigrated to Philadelphia in the 18th century and wrote the bestselling book The American Gardener’s Calendar. The American mahonias, such as M. aquifolium, are generally shorter than the taller Asiatic ones (such as Mahonia japonica or M. lomariifolia). The ‘Oregon Grape’, as M aquifolium is called, carries a rich crop of deep-blue berries that are edible – if not particularly nice!
American mahonias do better in sunny sites with well-drained soil whereas the Asian ones like some shade and, as in my garden, cope happily with heavy soil. However, Asiatic mahonias do have a tendency to become lanky especially if grown in deep shade. The answer is to prune them back as soon as they have finished flowering. Remove the largest and barest stems to a couple of feet above the ground and they should resprout from below the cut point and the shrub will become denser. After any drastic pruning, clear around the base of the plant and mulch thickly with garden compost or well-rotted manure to nourish and preserve moisture.