What it is
Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata) is in the Berberidaceae family. A spiny native evergreen with tart red berries for jelly - beat the bush over a sheet to harvest them.
How to grow it
It wants full sun to part shade, water it very low, and give it lean, rocky soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5-8.0. Space plants about 4 ft apart. Expect roughly Berries late spring. Hardy native shrub.
How it's used
Agarita is used: jelly, wine.
🔎 How to identify it
- Holly-like blue-green spiny leaflets
- Yellow fragrant flowers
- Bright red tart berries
Edibility
PartsRipe berries
UsesJelly, wine
CautionVery spiny holly-like leaves; harvest carefully.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.