Mahonia are an excellent backbone plant on which many a design is hung. A valuable evergreen winter flowering shrub providing colour and nectar in the winter months. Mahonia tend to have a great structure to them too and are easy to maintain.
No doubt you are all familiar with the very well known and much planted Mahonia x media Charity with its upright form and long spikes of bright yellow, highly fragrant flowers in the depths of winter.
Newish on the scene and still causing quiet a stir are Mahonia nitens Cabaret and Mahonia eurybracteata Soft Caress.
Mahonia nitens Cabaret is a real godsend for a winter flowering shrub that is a slightly different colour from the more well known Mahonia. The buds are orange – red in appearance and open from the base of the spike to reveal yellow flowers held in upright racemes. A compact form reaching only 1m in height. The emerging foliage in spring has a bronze hue maturing to green over the growing season.
Mahonia eurybracteata Soft Caress has foliage that is soft to the touch and less spikey than other Mahonia. The leaves are long and lanced shaped in appearance forming a compact mounded shrub in appearance. Bright yellow fragrant flowers are produced throughout the winter. This little lovely was awarded Plant of The Year at the Royal Chelsea Flower Show in 2013. A high accolade indeed.
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Soft Caress Cabaret Charity
