[hr] There’s a small, unassuming house on a fairly busy stretch of road near where I live. Most of the year, I merely glance at the garden as drive I past, but in early spring it becomes the best-dressed house on the block. Its rise in status is due to the magnolia blooming in the front yard. [hr]
This spring-flowering magnolia is one of the newer large-flowered varieties and it is truly spectacular with large-petalled blooms. The tree looks as if a flock of pink and white birds has just alighted in its branches. I savour every minute of its flowering from the appearance of the first large floppy pink petal to the sad day the wind blows the last flowers from the tree and it retreats into green leafiness.
Magnolia varieties that stop traffic include ‘Caerhays Belle’, ‘Felix’, ‘Phillip Tregunna’, ‘Vulcan’ and ‘Star Wars’. These varieties flower in late winter or early spring and begin to bloom when the tree is just a few years old and several metres high. Mature specimens can reach 3-5m high.
This early flowering habit is to be welcomed. The magnolias of days gone by could take many years to bloom. Friends who were the proud owners of a magnificent white Magnolia campbellii told me when I admired the tree in their garden that they had waited over a decade for the tree to flower. Luckily they planted it when they first moved to the garden and so enjoyed it each spring for more than 50 years!
Some of the breeding work for these precocious new-generation magnolias has occurred close to home in New Zealand carried out by two men, Oswald Blumhardt and Felix Jury. Blumhardt bred ‘Star Wars’ among many other great magnolia varieties while Felix Jury has developed a long list of magnolias including ‘Apollo’, ‘Mark Jury’ and ‘Vulcan’. His magnolia ‘Felix’ recently received a high accolade when it was given an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society in the UK.
[pullQuote] “Magnolias need deep rich soil, shelter from hot sun and strong westerly winds.” [/pullQuote]
Also worth looking out for is the star magnolia (Magnolia stellata), which forms a bushy plant 2m high and wide. The bush is smothered with clusters of small, starry white flowers in spring and suits a small space.
Evergreen Varieties
The magnolias blooming so spectacularly in spring are deciduous species and varieties. They came originally from southeastern Asia and are grown for their winter and spring flowers.
Another type of magnolia found in our gardens is the large evergreen species known as the Bull Bay or southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), which comes from the United States and flowers through the warmer months of the year with large creamy white fragrant blooms. Think ‘Gone with the Wind’ and avenues of large, spreading trees heavy with fragrant white flowers. Indeed, those large flowers, which are now the state flowers of Mississippi and Louisiana, were a symbol of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.
Although this tree grows naturally in a warm, humid climate, plants can grow in colder and drier zones if given shelter when young and water when dry. Evergreen magnolias have had a makeover in recent years and have shrunk to more of a suburban size. Cultivars such as ‘Little Gem’ (bred more than 50 years ago), ‘Kay Parris’, ‘Teddy Bear’ and ‘Greenback’ are shorter and narrower than the species growing around 10m tall and 5m wide but often kept pruned at around 3-3.5m tall and 2.5m wide.
If these sound too large then there are also other evergreen magnolias that suit smaller spaces or hedging. These are being sold as fairy magnolias and are a complicated hybrid between the port wine magnolia (Magnolia figo syn. Michelia figo) and other species magnolia (M. doltsopa and M. yunnanensis). The fairy magnolia is an ideal choice for an evergreen flowering hedge with pink or white flowering forms now widely available.
Growing Notes
Magnolias need deep rich soil, shelter from hot sun and strong westerly winds. The spring-flowering forms grow best in cool to temperate regions. In temperate and warmer areas grow compact varieties of one of the evergreen magnolia.
As well as differing in their climate zone preferences, the two forms of magnolia also differ when it comes to pruning. Spring-flowering magnolias need little pruning – indeed pruning can ruin their natural form. Evergreen magnolias however can be pruned to keep them a manageable size or to grow them as a tall evergreen hedge. If an evergreen magnolia has outgrown its space it can be pruned back hard. Victorian magnolia grower Leo Koelwyn says he has pruned big trees of evergreen magnolias back to a skeletal structure 1m high and 1m wide.
“In two to three months they are flushed with growth,” he says. The trees can then be pruned each year to maintain their size. They can also be sheared into columnar, pillar or conical shapes to create a feature in a landscaped garden.
Magnolias, especially the spring-flowering forms, can be a magnet for possums, which feed on the buds and new growth. If you have a magnolia that hasn’t flowered if may be that pesky possums have eaten the buds. Using a collar on the trunk to prevent access by the possum from the ground or covering the plant at night to prevent the possum reaching the branches can help preserve the blooms.
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Jennifer Stackhouse, Horticulturist
Jennifer Stackhouse is a horticulturist, garden writer, blogger and editor. She is highly respected by gardeners around Australia and a popular speaker. She is a regular garden commentator on ABC Local Radio across Australia. Her new book, simply titled Garden, has just been released to help everyone to maintain their bit of green.
Check out Jennifer’s website www.jenniferstackhouse.com
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