Berberis Species, Holly-Leaved Barberry, Oregon Grape, Oregon Grape Holly

This is a gorgeous shrub in all seasons here in Atlanta. Mine came with the house, and I've never had to feed, water, prune, or divide it...Read More in 15 years. Blooms in January, before pretty much anything else, followed by fabulous clusters of blue berries. In summer it's just green, but the leaves are interesting-- leathery ovals as big as a child's hand, with pointed spines like holly leaves, but not as fierce as holly. The trunks are like nandina, woody, and each branch ends with a horizontal spoked wheel of leaves. Vivid scarlet leaves in fall/winter are possibly even prettier than the fruit in spring. I never get seedlings under the plants, but they do pop up in the lawn under other trees, so probably dropped by birds or squirrels. The lawnmower takes care of those, I guess, because I never even noticed them until this year while looking for something else.

We have fields were this plant has taken over and we very much wish to remove it permanently and wonder how we can do this as it is very ...Read Moretuff to try and pull out. We need something that can be applied either by spray or ? This is very invasive and would recommend anyone planting it to be very aware and carefull. Can someone give some advise on how to permanently get rid of it? Thank you

My mother had several Mahonia plants in her back yard in Greensboro, NC and I've also grown it when I lived in SC. I used the branches, ...Read Moreblooms and berries in flower arrangements. ...Never knew the berries were edible and wish now I had known back when the plant was so available to me!
I now live in Hawai'i and haven't seen it growing here at all.

it's easy from fresh seed. Cold stratify in the frig for 3 months and seeds will germinate in the the frig.

I love this shrub, as its very easy to grow and relatively low-maintenance. I planted a half-dozen in various locations around my yard (...Read Moregetting anywhere from 1.5-5 hours of direct sun per day), and they do well in just about all lighting conditions. One of mine gets 5 hours of direct afternoon/early evening sun and seems to thrive in that spot (with weekly water in the summer). You'll want to plant these in soil that drains reasonably well, but they're otherwise not that picky about soil type. If you have dry summers like we do, give them a weekly watering and they'll be fine.

The small yellow flowers are unremarkable, but birds LOVE the blueish-purple berries.

Noticed several of these plants in full bloom as I was driving through Syracuse, NY today - it's 4/22/12. All appeared to be in full sun...Read More, and most in unsheltered areas, but I didn't take note of the exact direction. I have also grown this plant in Dallas, Tx, but it required shade there.

Take note, the leaves of these plants are sharp and will draw blood if you're not wearing gloves. Not recommended for high traffic area where dogs and people roam. They may not walk into the bush, but the dead leaves that have fallen are still sharp.

Have two plants which have survived several Chicago winters. Have to build bamboo and burlap teepees over my Rhododendron and Azalea to ...Read Moreprotect against deer, so the Mahonia gets tented also. One Mahonia is on the south edge of a treed area, the other is back in the shaded area of the same trees. The south facing, right on the lawn edge, has been growing better than the 'in shade' one, but both are doing well.

When young, and during a severe winter, the deer 'chowed-down' and nearly killed the plants. Thus, I have been protecting them. Our deer do not seem to realize that they are not supposed to like Oregon Grape leaves....they eat anything.

Fantastic display of small yellow flowers, in bunches, in the spring resulting in small 'grapes' in the fall which the birds love (no leftovers).

I have a lot of shade and the mahonias love it. People are always complementing the grape mahonias in my landscape.

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Planted one in a VERY sheltered location on the NE corner of my house and still had some die-back. Leaves stayed green up until Spring wh...Read Moreen most of them fell off. Every one of these I have seen planted in the North is absolutely fried if it is not planted in a sheltered area (NO wind).

Last year I planted Oregon grape in the shady area between our house and the next. It was a single-stemmed plant when I bought it, and it...Read More grew to about 4 feet high in two growth spurts in summer.

It stayed dark green for most of the winter, but when the snow started melting, the leaves that were above the snow (about 2 feet deep) began to turn tan and fall off. The upper part of the stem is dry and somewhat shriveled. Apparently only the snow-covered part survived the winter.

Two tiny leaves below the snow line are still green. Some sprouts are emerging on the lower part of the stem. I guess this year the plant will turn into more of a bush. Hopefully there will be enough snow next winter to protect it... without snow it doesn't seem to be really hardy. Hopefully a flowerbud will survive till spring.

Update: This past winter (2011-12) there was very little snow, but the plant survived — I think all of its stems, actually. It's grown a lot this summer. It's now at least four feet high. It didn't flower yet. I hope it will sometime. But till then, it's still very interesting with its spiny and glossy leaves, especially when they're young and rosy yellow.

I have a large, and very tall, patch of this in my Eugene yard, growing in full sun. I like the long period of yellow flowers, and so do ...Read Morethe birds and bees. It was allowed to run wild by the previous owner, and can take over if not controlled. I seldom water it, yet it is healthy and vigorous. I don't like the prickly leaves, but with the tall variety, this is less of a problem, because they are easier to avoid.

I have planted 5 plants. Four are doing well but one just does not thrive. It is small and weak. They have been in the ground for abou...Read Moret 2 years. I do not know if there is a disease or what. They are in the same spot, east side of our house at the front. They have morning sun and afternoon shade.

Oregon grape grows wild in Northcentral Idaho. It makes excellent tasting and beautiful jams and is a pretty plant all year. I don't fi...Read Morend it aggressive at all. It prefers at least some shade and grows in total shade here.

Adaptable native for the Pacific Northwest. Needs very little care and grows sun or shade, poor dry soil. Evergreen, and grows moderately slowly.

This plant grows wild in the Black Hills of South Dakota and we use it in our christmas wreaths. In the fall the leaves turn a burgundy ...Read Moreto bright red color and add a handsome green to the green of the fresh spruce and pine.

The first three of our four years in Payson, Az, our Oregon Grape Holly was visited annually by the single-note-calling phainopepla in su...Read Moremmer for the grapes. I thought the fruit was bland. The blossoms before are very aromatic, almost cloying. Our O. G. H. are being infested with a web making insect similar to the tent caterpillar. I've had to raze a couple to the ground. They do put up shoots elsewhere, so I don't think their in danger of elimination. I just wish I knew what the insect is.

The only maintenance I've had to do is prune the tops out to keep it compact. I was able to root one of these cuttings to plant for the ...Read Morefuture.
The mockingbirds love to eat the berries.

I've had this plant for fifteen or twenty years at 1100 feet in the northwest corner of Connecticut and it's as carefree as anything can ...Read Morebe. It's in complete shade until late afternoon, spreads very slowly, and comes back when we thought it was dead. It's still barely two feet high but six feet wide. We clip it occasionally for holly decorations at Christmas.

A very hardy plant, not just in terms of temperature. The previous owner of our property went through and sprayed everything with RoundUp...Read More, and we were sure the Oregon Grape was dead. To our surprise, is wasn't!

Says full sun... according to conventional wisdom around the Willamette Valley, it's a shade plant. It's very rarely seen growing in full sun around here. Our patch grows in full dry shade, and is thriving.

The yellow flowers are rather ugly up close, but stunning from a distance. The berries are a little too tart to eat straight, but make a wonderful jam. A must-have for the PNW.

Growing very well in almost full shade--probably needs it during our hot Alabama summers. Companions are Japanese Fatsia, Japanese Maple...Read More (Crimson Queen) and Cast Iron Plant.

I see this plant marked for sun, but I have grown it very successfully in shade in Piedmont of NC, and in Houston, TX.
It is outst...Read Moreanding in shade with red folliage in fall, bright yellow blooms in spring and olive shaped dark purple blue fruits in summer. An interesting shape, very hardy, not needing maintenance. Goes with azaleas, but will stand even less light.

I just moved into this new neighborhood in Hope, BC Canada, in December. One of the first native plants to pop up in the area (in Feb.) i...Read Mores the Oregon Grape. They grow everywhere around here! I can't wait to see the fruits and flowers..It is a very woodsy area around here, lots of shade under large trees, but alot of heat and sunlight in summer. They really seem to thrive under the canopy of trees, with all of the natural mulch.....

This plant varies from a stout shrub with many erect stems to a creeping form with an underground rhizome. Shiny holly-like leaves and ch...Read Morealky blue berries identify this plant common to pine forests of western Canada, northwestern CA, NV, TX, Co, SD and western MT.

Native Americans used the bark to make a yellow dye. The berries are eaten by man and beasy alike and they make a nice jelly.

Yes, of course it grows here! This is its prime growing location. It grows on the north slope around my house (on a north-facing scarp) b...Read Moreut you won't find it growing naturally in the open sun-baked flatland or on western or southern exposures unless somewhat shaded. It's extremely hardy. I'm at an elevation of of a little over 4,200FT and it grows way up higher in the mountains around here that can get 6'+ of snow in the winter. In addition to that, here in the Klamath Basin, the moisture content during the winter is basically nill when the wind blows and the temperatures go below freezing. The same thing happens in the summer with high temperatures and wind with little humidity. This plant shows no sign of stress in either situation as long as its roots are shaded and the soil stays a little moist. As for the berries, they are a little tart and seedy, but I have heard many accounts of the tremendous jelly they make, like from a grape, but more tart(added suger of course). I haven't ever gathered the berries from the bushes around my house for lack of time and anyone I could give them to to make jelly, but I did notice a huge increase in mice in and outside my house this year due to a heavy crop of all berry-bushes around my house(we've been in a drought and had a "decent" snow last winter, so the wild plants around here went crazy this year with flowers & fruit). Gathering the berries might be a good idea if you live in an area prone to rodents. I have never seen birds actually eating the berries, and there are still many left on the bushes yet. Maybe when the ground is coverd in snow, the birds will come looking for the berries. Like I said, the ground around here hasn't had snow on it ,for any lenghth of time,in about 10 years.

Native to the West Coast of the USA from Northern California to Vancouver , Canada . Very abundant on the east side of the Cascades in op...Read Moreen forest . Grows in part shade to full sun . Growing abundantly here in zone 5 and wild specimens here have survived recent winters as cold as -25 F . Very tolerant of heat , cold and drought once established . There are actually 3 species of Oregon Grape growing here . (1) Berberis Nervosa or Oregon Grape, a low growing shrub 4 - 12 inches high . (2) Berberis Aquifolium or Tall Oregon Grape , very similiar to b.nervosa only growing to heights in excess of 6 feet . This species makes a wonderful inpenetrable hedge . (3) Berberis Repens or Creeping Oregon Grape , a low spreading shrub found east of the Cascades .

The berries of Oregon Grape are edible although very sour . Each berry also contains 1 - 4 seeds . I am in process now of collecting seed from various elevations in the cascades for cold stratification this winter.