Exceptional species bold in leaf, bold in form and bold in flower. These are seedlings from our plant grown from a Dan Hinkley collection in China. Big leaflets make up the substantial leaves and the flowers are terminal candles of a rich yellow-orange in late winter or even earlier in mild gardens.

A seedling from a cross between two fine Mahonia species done at the Bloedel Reserve and given to us by their Director of Horticulture, Andy Navage.  While we would love to grow these on and evaluate the differences, this would take time, space, money and well, we could go on but would rather deputize you to grow this on and report back.

Exceptional Chinese Mahonia (or Berberis according to some authorities and known as M. confusa by others - oh the treacherous tides of botanical nomenclature!  Regardless of the nomme du jour, this is a fine plant for the garden. We grow ours in our younger shade garden and it sailed through the soul crushing winter of 2010-11.  Very narrow leaflets.

A seedling from Mahonia 'Ozzie Johnson' named by Dan Hinkley for his friend who introduced  Mahonia 'Soft Caress'  This has finely narrow and equally soft leaves as 'Soft Caress' and each seedling has its charming set of attributes and each will be uniquely good.

One of the great Mahonia species or Berberis as they are now known.  We saw this growing on Wawushan in Sichuan where it exhibited it's characteristic waxy white underleaf.  Loose sprays of pinky-orange flowers in the fall followed by nice fruit.  Easy and a connoisseurs foliage plant.

Certainly one of the best names for a Mahonia and one which if mastered, will set you apart from you gardening peers.  Here's a tip - it’s the foliola at the end that always derails folks including us.  These are seedlings from an unintentional mixing of a Hinkley collection and a Peter Cox Cangshan collection - no matter as both are very elegant.

Roy Lancaster spoke of this at Meany Hall at the UW a few years back ans showed pictures of this growing against his house with fingered racemes of salmon-tinged pale flowers which rebloom in later summer with the fruit from the first flowering.  The crowd went wild.  We got seed from Roy.  Yahoo!

This was a rogue seedling in a batch of Mahonia aquifolium seedlings at Miethke Nursery in Tacoma back in the 50's and thought to be a chance hybrid with a Berberis (Barberry).  All things old are new again and we're pleased to offer this scarcity.