neatstuff2 thanks, we don't know any nursery's outside of Tyler and would love to go see what Chitty's and Neal Nursery has... Turkeytaker, I'll let you know after I try those nurserys.

Varieties of x media planted in my area are most definitely winter bloomers......several were in full bloom in my January client travels. I might depend some on siting and how much winter" sun" is avaliable. A local publication offers this: "Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ – one of the easiest to find in the Portland area these days, this excellent hybrid has chunkier foliage than most other forms. Buds color up in late November and flowering occurs December to February. 12-15’ tall and a bit less wide. Mahonia x media ‘Arthur Menzies’ – a wonderful cultivar flowering late Dec or January through February. Reaches 10-12’ tall and nearly as wide. Mahonia x media ‘Winter Sun’ – has fine, more delicate foliage than Charity and Arthur Menzies, with reddish-burgundy new growth in spring. Flowering starts in December most years and lasts through February. Plant reaches about 10’ tall and a bit less wide." Late December, January and February are pretty much fully winter in my book. What you are seeing in bloom now are probably specimens of our native Mahonia aquifolium. It is a spring bloomer......although I'm sure that will garner some argument as well :-)

As I stated previously, it is one of the Asian species or a hybrid thereof. And I don't know what you mean by "less horrible"..........no mahonia is necesarily 'horrible' :-) Some may be invasive under certain circumstances or in certain locations and none are grown specifically for their fruit, which has little appeal to anyone other than wildlife, but I would hardly define either of these attribute as 'horrible'! btw, I would not consider anything coming from The Spruce as "authoritative". It is a lifestyle website (formerly known as About.com) that employes all manner of writers for their various articles, some very knowledgeable and others not so much. Inaccuracies, wrong information and misidentifcations are common. If you want something authoritative on plants or gardening, stick with the .edu websites or those that focus only on plants and gardening like MOBOT or Monrovia or The Morton Aboretum, etc. And even those are not a 100% guarantee of accuracy or up to date info.

Suspect it is leatherleaf mahonia, M. bealei, as that is very common in southern states....to the point where it is considered invasive in some areas. IME, mahonia is one of those plants you can't kill if you drive over it with a truck so can tolerate transplanting whenever, although any time from midfall through winter is ideal.