Mahonia bealai

I think this must be going on for a fortnight by now where we have woken up to fresh snow. Thankfully for us, to a large extent, it is self clearing and by lunch time any more snow fall just doesn't stay. About 50m up the hill to the south of here they are clearly above the snow line and well snowed in.

Anyway. Mahonia. Something in me thinks I should love this plant. Pretty bark, evergreen, interesting shaped leaves, nice flowers in early spring that last for a month, nice smelling flowers and they grow into lovely berries. However it really doesn't stand out for me. Maybe it is the fact that I use words like "nice" to describe it. They are not exceptional flowers, etc etc. And also it is annoyingly spiky, doesn't grow easily to what I feel is a natural shape and has branches that can't support itself often. Can't please some folk eh!