Weekend Plantidote 2013-01-12
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mahonia aquifolium x media "Winter Sun"
Oregon grape holly
REVISED
If you have a good memory for Plantidotes, you know I've showcased this plant before (01/09/11). I thought maybe I could find more interesting tidbits about it (not really) At least 10 different sites listing information about Oregon grape holly (state flower of Oregon) state it blooms in April, including OSU (edu) and WA native plant society. That's funny mine blooms reliably in January!
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Comments
Thanks, jerztomato. I didn't see your earlier posting. That is
a very pretty holly, but then I've always liked holly plants.
It might make an interesting series sometime to feature some of the more striking, or unusual "state flowers." (And it may have already been done, LOL! How would I know.)
Re: State flowers would be fun!
Alexa, that's a good idea.
It would be interesting to see the variety throughout the 50 states.
And a natural for quiz material!
Which plant and which state!
Adding... Also a natural to get more people involved! "Send us an image of your state flower..." Hopefully from one's own garden but maybe not...
Re: taking a second look.
After looking at the Oregon holly, methinks it is a very close cousin to mahonia aquifolium. The distance between the leaflets and how big the whole compound leaf looks...I'm thinking it is Mahonia lomarifolia.
Is the shrub over 6 ft tall?
I have a cluster of lomarifolia and they reach up to 10 ft tall. Nasty sharp leaves. Plant one of those under your windows and it will foil any burglar!! A real "pain" to prune too.
Re: taking a second look.
Okay, I should have looked for the tag before I posted. I really didn't expect to find it in readable condition. Winter sun mahonia hardy to 10 degrees F height 7-10 feet Partial shade Yellow fragrant sprays of bloom in late winter.
Second look
The shrub is 5ft tall, but I doubt it has reached maturity. Later this afternoon I'll go and check to see if the plant tag is still in the ground (and hopefully still legible) I never really paid that close attention to detail on my plants until joining Plantidote. Now I save all of my plant tags and catalog them in a binder. (Yes, extremely anal)
Your binder
I like cataloging, as the fracking map and the Platinum coin timeline show! So please reconsider not only "anal" -- perfectly normal behavior, so far as I am concerned -- but also all the other things in this world that can be cataloged... And shared...
Re: binder
I catalog other stuff too, like anything to do with my house. You never know when you'll have to pull out a warranty or manual for an appliance or work done on the house.
Re: Weekend Plantidote 2013-01-12
Glad to hear I'm not the only one who saves plant tags. (How wide will that thing get if I put it next to this other plant....?) I need to have a system to keep them in better order, though.
If one had a collection of several Mahonias you'd have blooms over many months. Some of the bigger ones smell divine, especially on a sunny late winter's day when we're starved for flowers.