I was trying to decide on a native plant I should feature this June. My first thought was salal because it gets tiny little flowers this month that turn into dark red berries. Their shiny evergreen leaves are so pretty they are used in florist arrangements. It is a very nice plant. But I also was talking to a friend who is battling a stand of salal on her property. As pretty as it is, I realize that many Tillamook County gardeners find it to be on the near edge of invasive. So I looked elsewhere for my June pick.
I didn’t have to look far as my next thought was the lovely Oregon-grape (Mahonia aquifolium). Some gardeners know it as Grape holly because the leaves resemble that of English holly, the staple of every Christmas decoration. This type of Mahonia is found naturally from British Columbia to Northern California.
This is a true four-season plant, as it forms lovely yellow flowers in the spring and purple-blue fruit in the summer. New growth of leaves can be bronze or ruddy red and some mature leaves will retain their red color through the year. Most will stay a glossy green. In full sun in colder areas, the leaves will turn bronze or purplish in the winter. And its leaves can be used with green holly for a lovely and long-lasting decoration. It is an upright-growing dense shrub, and gets to be from three to six feet high and wide. It likes light shade but can take more sun if the soil is moist. Oregon-grape doesn’t need to be fertilized but it does like humus rich soil, so a top dressing of compost once a year will ensure its happiness in your garden. I do suggest protection from our winter winds so the foliage won’t dry out.
The yellow-gold flowers form in clumps and are quite pretty. Deadheading them will keep the plant looking tidy, but at the loss of the fruit. Native birds like the berries, and they are human-edible as well. But the berries are very tart so are best used in cooking. Jams, jellies, syrups are easiest to make, but wine is also an option for these juicy berries.
Oregon-grape is one of those understory plants in the wild, so planting it under large trees is ideal. Or use a few bushes mixed with the native evergreen huckleberry (or that pesky salal) in a woodland garden for a true Northwest native look. Oregon-grape could also be used as a backdrop for a mixed border or a group could be sheared into a hedge row.
There is also a low growing variety with bronze leaves called ‘Compactum’ that makes a good ground cover. This mounding plant has a height and spread of two to three feet. Either type could be used in a large container or tub, too, as long as they are kept well-watered. But if you have space for Oregon-grape in the ground where it can spread out, this is ideal. It does have a tendency to sucker and thus spread, but trimming back the suckers in early summer will keep Oregon-grapes under control. You may want to keep them pruned to maintain their size and shape, and any woody stems that project out too far can be easily trimmed.
Because of the sharpness of Oregon-grape leaves, though, it’s not a good plant for along a walkway or entrance. Place it in the rear of a planting instead, somewhere you don’t need to get to on a regular basis to weed.
There are not many problems with this native plant, but rust, leaf spot or scale (insects) can be occasional problems. These are best avoided by good circulation around the plant in the summer. I know that seems contradictory because I said to protect it from winter winds. How can we give it good circulation but not have it subject to winter winds? The best answer is to place it where it is shielded from both winter and summer winds, but leave space around it instead of planting it too close to other rust and leaf spot hosts (like roses).
The easy-to-grow Oregon-grape will find a place in most Tillamook gardens and fit in nicely. And since it is the state flower of Oregon, how could you go wrong?
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