Mahonia x media 'Charity'
If I had to name my number one shrub for a wildlife garden it would be Mahonia x media “Charity”. It gives year-round interest and cover, while its pollen, nectar and berries feed a wealth of birds and insects.
It’s a bushy, upright, evergreen shrub with dark-green, spiky, glossy leaves that are a pleasant light red as they come through in summer. In autumn and winter it bears yellow flowers (apparently fragrant, although I have never noticed this myself!) which are followed by blue-black berries.
It is sometimes called Oregon grape in the USA (although that name seems too broadly used) or lily-of-the-valley bush in the UK.
Mahonia with Cotinus in autumn
It likes moist but well-drained soil in shade or partial shade and thrives in my clay soil on a slope below overhanging ash trees. Mine needs little maintenance but grows like mad to about 12 feet high in a few years and then has to be hacked back down again – it has survived this three times in about 10 years and still keeps coming back.
Most wonderful is the sunshine it brings into the winter garden and the boost it gives wildlife through the dark months.
Red Admiral on Mahonia in December
Blue tits feed on the nectar, or perhaps the pollen, and it is particularly attractive to red admiral butterflies deep into winter – I have seen them there on Christmas Day.
Blue tit feeding on Mahonia flowers
Male blackcap feasting on Mahonia berries
Once the flowers have faded the berries start to ripen and are pretty well polished off by blackcaps, blackbirds and song thrushes. It’s just as well, as the fully laden bunches of ripe berries weigh down the heads of the Mahonia and they could do with some lightening up!
Male blackbird with Mahonia berries
Song thrush on Mahonia in late winter
Planted on a boundary, the Mahonia’s spiky leaves can also be useful in keeping out intruders.
Spiky Mahonia leaves after rain
The Squirrelbasket 
Lovely post! I was researching nectar feeding on Blue Tits, as I saw a couple feeding on the Mahonia flowers and thought that they looked like they were nectaring. I have been keeping an eye for winter bumblebees on Mahonia bushes, but no luck with those, I guess winter was too hard.
Thanks for the kind comment – I just looked at your bug blog and there’s some interesting stuff there, too. I see you have also featured Mahonia – and spiders!
As for this winter being a hard one, too right! The flowers on my big Mahonia are a terrible mess since the snow and ice. In the past I have seen butterflies on it on Christmas Day, but not this year.
That’s an interesting subject – blue tits drinking nectar. I hadn’t realised they did. I kind of assumed they were eating the pollen. Either way, they’re messy eaters/drinkers, knocking off all the little yellow petals. Can we look forward to a blog post on blue tits from you?
best wishes
x
I came across your post when researching for my posts on blue tits dirnking nectar, I posted it yesterday in my other blog The Rattling Crow:
http://therattlingcrow.blogspot.com/2011/01/bumbebee-tit.html
You will find there why they are such messy eaters!
You might also like this recent post by Clive Finlayson of Chifchaffs drinking nectar, with stunning photos
http://naturalandalus.blogspot.com/2011/01/chiffchaff-and-aloe.html
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