Mahonia oiwakensis ssp. lomariifolia
Archive entry 08.12.13
Archive entry 30.11.14
30th November 2008
I love Mahonia x media so much that I have no compunction in being rude about it. Mahonia lomariifolia is its less well known parent
with finer leaflets, more compact flower heads and, lets be honest about it, real faults!
My own plants have been in the garden for a dozen or fifteen years (or perhaps twenty) and have had long enough to express every aspect of their character,
including the towering bare stems that reach into the sky and make the winter flowers invisible from below. It would probably be better if I cut it down from
time to time, but I never get round to it.
On the plus side, in an emergency I could cut the twelve foot long stems, complete with prickly tops, and use them to chase off marauding elephants, and I
haven't had to. That must be a good thing?
(And the garden here is quite a long way from the closest elephant that I am aware of. It would have to maraud with great determination, and I'm not sure
a twelve foot prickly stick would be the ultimate deterrent!)
29th November 2009
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