Mahonia
These are delightful evergreen shrubs with handsome leaves and yellow flowers. They present an air of stern uncompromising endurance which I find strangely attractive. The species Mahonia aquifolium makes a useful low-growing ground cover under taller trees, especially cherries or acers. This does not inhibit the flowering in April.
Self-layered branches will always be found ready for lifting in autumn. M . a. undulata is perhaps lovelier, but at 6 ft. high too tall for ground cover. M. japonica is so much better than bealei and undulata that for the small garden it must be the first choice. The large clusters of pinnate leaves form a nest from which emerge racemes of pale yellow fragrant flowers, in some years during February, in others March.
As a shrub enthusiast there are certain plants I yearn to grow well, and I go to a lot of trouble to achieve these ambitions. Now after six years of endeavour, my 4-ft. high bush of Osmanthus delavayi has rewarded my efforts with a creditable show of white, perfumed flowers.
Mahonia lomariifolia is a very imposing species but it is only sufficiently hardy in milder districts. The deep yellow flowers are borne during winter on long racemes. The flowering crabs may not make the immediate appeal of the flowering cherry, but their acceptance of a wider range of soils maintains the balance between the two genera in the public opinion poll.
A holly with tiny delicately scented flowers in September baffles most visitors to this garden and yet 0. ilicifolius is, for most of the year, a holly in all but name. The bush here is 4 ft. high after 17 years. O. ilicifolius aureo-marginatus is a well-formed foliage plant with deep yellow- margined leaves. Layering side branches in October is the surest method of increase with this species and its varieties.
The Daisy Bush is an attractive evergreen shrub with white. or creamy-white flowers. at least in the species I shall mention. For those who garden on the coast I would consider them well nigh indispensable. A free-draining soil and a position in full exposure to all the sun available makes for a proper vegetable contentment. Near the coast Olearia albida makes a useful hedge to shelter early iris and similar delicate treasures. White flowers cover the 4-ft. bushes in a praiseworthy manner in August. O. haastii, a cosmopolitan bush and possibly the hardiest of all, has white fragrant flowers in July. The tallest specimen I measured was 7 ft. high and grew under ideal conditions in the sandy soil of Norfolk.
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