Mahonia - sick or not?

I bought a couple of Mahonias online and emailed them as it appeared that some of the leaves were diseased. They asked me to send some pics, which I did.

They have replied stating :

"The leaves that are damaged are the older leaves which during spring will be dying to make way for this year's new growth. Some evergreens take on all sorts of colourations during the winter and either recover fully in the growing season or the leaf will die and be replaced. Plants that lose their leaves during winter do this process much quicker and in is less noticeable as they are not surrounded by fresh growth in contrast.

I have googled a few sites to see if I could find some examples of this, the best I can find is http://myshadygarden.com/2011/07/22/the-elusive-oregon-grape-holly/

The majority of plants we grow are grown outside rather than under glass, this makes for a stronger hardier plant capable of standing late frosts but does mean some winter colouring/leaf damage will show as they will in your own garden."

From the pics below, is this the case and am I being overly fussy?

 

Mine has similar looking leaves. So I guess it sounds possible. Mine is about 15 foot tall.





Rusty

 

I dont think I would be overly bothered, this is one of mine, you can see new growth in the first picture is fine. (Excuse the weeds).

 

Thanks both

 

Your mahonias do look sickly to me. I planted two last year, now about 18 inches tall and they look healthy with none of the leaf decay you have.