Mahonia × media ‘Lionel Fortescue’, Hybrid Mahonia

This is another excellent hybrid with dramatic, long, spiny leaves and particularly long, frost-resistant, fragrant, yellow flower racemes in late fall into winter. It's an upright, vase-shaped shrub and is more fragrant and earlier-blooming than related cultivars. The hummingbirds guard it with covetous hearts and hungry mouths. The large blue berries are also a food source for local wildlife. Best grown in part shade in well-draining soil with regular water. They can tolerate the full sun if given more water; once established, spells of drought are ok if planted in the shade. Clay soils are just fine as long as they are not waterlogged. M. lomariifolia x M. japonica Mature size: 10 ft T x 5-8 ft W in 10 years; ultimately 15 ft T Minimum temperature: 0° F