Last Saturday we attended the monthly meet of our local HPS chapter and the guest speaker was Colin Ward, owner of Swines Meadow Farm Nursery which is not that far from us (but we have yet to visit, oops!) and we know sell many rare and unusual plants. We bump into him quite regularly through the many plant fairs that we attend so it was extra nice to see and hear him do a talk for our HPS chapter.
Now we were aware that he will be bringing plants with him during the day to sell. What we didn't expect though was that he will be bringing with him many unusual and beautiful plants that are already of a good size. That was a very nice surprise and with so many tempting goodies we had an unexpected plant shopping afternoon! More about our HPS purchases in a separate post but one of the plants we got from him is a very beautiful Mahonia that is new to me.
Now I'm a big Mahonia fan and mention the genus to me and I'm already all ears and on full attention. So when he highlighted and showed this plant I knew instantly it had to go home with us.
Now this Mahonia looked very familiar to us, similar in appearance to the ones we have already and even blogged about before. But not quite..
Mahonia eurybracteata 'Sweet Winter'
It is Mahonia eurybracteata 'Sweet Winter'. It looks very similar to the more well known Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress' but the leaves are not as cut and delicate looking, broader with slight curve or twist to them. Also it is supposed to be more robust and a better performer than the latter.
Mahonia eurybracteata subsp. ganpinensis 'Soft Caress'
Both Mahonias however are not spiny and are friendly to the touch (and vision).The specimen we got looks fabulous already. Time will tell how it will perform and no doubt we'll be giving updates on how it does, and how it compares with the other.
So here you go, another lovely Mahonia to keep an eye out for!
Mark :-)
