Our May 2005 featured item is a native Oregonian, Mahonia aquifolium, or Oregon Grape... low maintenance, glossy leaves, clusters of yellow flowers, wildlife friendly and native. Does this sound like your dream perennial? Recycled Gardens has lots of Oregon Grape ready to plant in your garden.

This useful evergreen native comes in a variety of sizes from groundcovers up to 10-feet tall. It grows in sun and shade. The leaves often put on a late season show when they turn purplish or fiery red in Winter.

Used in naturescaping and wildlife gardens, the plant provides food and cover for wildlife. The berries ripen in late summer and are eaten by many birds including grouse, pheasants, robins, waxwings, juncos, sparrows, and towhees. Foxes, raccoons, coyotes, and black bears also eat the berries and deer and elk will occasionally browse the leaves and flowers. Orchard mason bees, various small wasps, painted lady butterflies, and other flying pollinators feed on the nectar.

Humans often use the berries too to make jelly. Recipes can be found at the Oregon State Extension website. And, a literature search shows that Oregon Grape had been touted as an alternative therapy for psoriasis and eczema!

This Oregon native was designated the Oregon State Flower in 1899. It was cultivated across Europe after being introduced by David Douglas, who had collected seeds in 1823.

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