The spiny dark evergreen leaves of Asian mahonias add texture to the woodland garden, while the tall leggy trunks and branches add form. Bright yellow flowers on spiraling racemes in winter, followed by dark bluish-black berries in mid-summer, attract pollinators and birds. But one of the true gems of the garden is a Mexican mahonia that John Fairey so fondly called the curly leaf chochoco because its small glossy bright green leaves have undulating leaf margins that provide quite a spectacle as they flutter in the wind. Whether allowed to grow as a rounded shrub or trained on an espalier, its yellow winter blooms provide dramatic winter color similar to its Asian counterparts.