Wondering the same thing myself!

I just saw this come up in the Plant Trials at the Dallas Arboretum - looks like it's a winner! Now, to wait for it to become available and then for the prices to come down to reasonable...

Lin

Here is a link that might be useful: Jimmy Turner Trials Mahonia

Could be a long wait for the patent to expire. I've seen it several places in SA, priced from $29 to $35 for a 3 gallon plant.

Whitecap, $29 isn't too bad for a 3-gallon shrub, when I covet it, but I'd much rather find a 1-gallon for $10-$15.

I don't think I can wait for the patent to expire...

Lin

Well, I couldn't resist. If it falls short of expectations, I'll so advise. It occurs to me that this might make an attractive indoor plant.

Makes a remarkable contrast with Japanese ardisia.

I have Mahonia envy, Whitecap :)

I'll be on the lookout for it in the DFW area. I have a leatherleaf mahonia that did well in the red clay of Euless, and is doing fairly well moved to the sandy soils in east Texas.

Lin

Planted 3 in the Fall of 2009 in a mostly shaded area. They were 3 gallon plants and have now tripled in size. Most impressive to me is the fact that they were completely unaffected by the cold. Wish I had planted more of them.

Ive been having problems with my Mahonia Soft caress. I've had the plant for over a year and it really hasn't done a thing. in fact it seems to be slowly dieing. Planted in shade, good soil, plenty of water.

I planted about 30 of them on a residential project I did about 6 months ago and they are doing the same.

Seems like a good plant. Deer proof, freeze proof. Likes the shade. Any suggestions

Thought an update might be in order here. This one didn't do much until a few weeks ago, when it suddenly doubled in size. It now measures about 18"x18". It set some dark yellow blooms this winter, but they were inconspicuous. Looks like it's going to be a great foliage plant, though. Some consolation for my Purple Pixie Loropetalums (Loropetali?) and Sky Pencil Holly which, languishing for their native climes, died slow, agonizing deaths. Have a couple of other experiments in the works. One is Blue Fescue, Festuca Glauca, which I found in a nether recess of HD, among the groundcovers. It's a lovely little thing, with foliage like pine needles, bluish grey in color, much like Bluepoint Juniper. The grower's tag says it likes sun, is hardy to 30 below, and gets 10 to 12" tall.

Also set out a few bare root Crane's Bill Geraniums yesterday. This is a perennial, bearing no familial relation to the annual of the same name. I finally gave up on finding some locally, and ordered these online. They're the Johnson's Blue type. We will see.

Whitecap = I did the Festuca Glauca a few years ago, and it languished in my clay soil for a couple of years till the roots finally rotted. I really liked it too, but I think it needs dryer and lighter soil than I have. My Crane's Bill geraniums have done well for going on 4 years now - I don't know what cultivar mine are - they were just labeled Geranium Sanguinium Sanguinium and have pinkish blooms. I got them at Green Mama's when they were still in business. They have stayed mostly evergreen although they do reduce in size during winter, and when it's really hot out, they look a little miserable. Luckily they get some decent midday shade during summer.

I've got a couple of containers in a little sitting area that gets direct sun only from 11:00 to 2:30, and I'm stumped on what to put in them. I'm trying to avoid replicating plants I already have in a nearby perennial bed, which takes out plumbago and pavonia. I'm sure ferns would fry here, in late summer, and a salvia gregii I put there isn't at all happy. Hence the hardy geranium.

Mine is planted in a protected space in central KY. But in late summer it was stripped to a skeleton. I'm wondering if there was a bug infestation but never saw the culprit.

Any experience with this problem?

I hear that bunnies love the soft caress mahonia!