Soft Caress Chinese Mahonia

Mahonia eurybracteata 'Soft Caress'

Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ in April 2016. Photo: SK Reid.

Summary

‘Soft Caress’ is a long, thin-leaved form of this Mahonia species. Heading it after blooming can help it acquire a dense, lush form, rather than becoming leggy, leaning, and non-uniform as it did in some cases in the trial. This is a fall to winter bloomer, and the plants had just begun to show flowers at the end of the trial in October. This gave us insufficient data to assess the effect of irrigation on bloom. Plants performed acceptably on all irrigation treatments, with the highest ratings for foliage, flowering, vigor, and overall appearance at 60% of ETo (Table 19). There were significant differences in vigor in July and October, where the 60% treatment outperformed the 20% treatment. In September overall appearance on the highest irrigation level (80% of ETo) dropped to barely acceptable, showing a preference for more moderate irrigation. Plants irrigated at 60% of ETo were significantly better than 80% at p≤0.01, and better than 40% at p≤0.05. Although 60% was not significantly better than 20%, we still find the best overall performance on this level. There were no significant differences in growth between treatments.

Growth and Quality Data

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Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ on 80% ET0 in October 2016, showing leaf death on lower stems. Photo: SK Reid.