Magnolias

Three of these Magnolias are the second earliest to bloom. The earliest M. Stellata and M. 'Merrill' are still hanging on but just barely with 3 days of warm temperatures in the low to mid 70's.




I added this picture today, Sunday of the M. 'Butterflies'. I've had trouble taking pictures of trees. It seems there are so many distracting elements which become prominent and the subject less so. I took the photo from an upstairs (dirty) window to eliminate unwanted things but the glass reflected the curtains so there appears to be a haze on the left side of the picture. Oh well, this is the best I can do to show how the whole tree looks and just how covered with flowers it is.





Here's another photo taken from slightly above ground level from our deck.







M. 'Butterflies' The yellowest if that's a word, of all the Magnolia flowers. The tree is covered with blossoms like butterflies on a shrub. This is the second year this tree is blooming and the flowers seem smaller than last year but may increase in size when they fully open.






Magnolia 'Jane'. A very commonly sold variety and one of the "Little Girls" series of hybrid Magnolia: Ann, Betty, Jane, Judy, Randy, Ricki and Susan. From the http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu site: "Little Girl Hybrid Magnolias is a group of hybrids resulting from crosses made at the United States National Arboretum in Washington D.C. in the 1950's of M. liliiflora ‘Nigra’ and M. stellata ‘Rosea’. This group of large shrubs or small trees produces outstanding floral display in early spring and blooms later than the M. stellata."

I've never really cared for the look of these flowers but for some reason it looks very good this year so I may have to change my mind. I think my opinion is clouded by the fact that I had to remove a larger 'Jane' which was infested with the giant magnolia scale insect and the tree, possibly weakened by the infestation was prone to powdery mildew.






Magnolia Soulangeana, saucer Magnolia, Rustica Rubra. This is the first year this small tree is blooming. I didn't realize there were so many varieties of saucer Magnolias but the Clemson University site lists several. " * ‘Brozzonii’ – A large plant (25 to 30 feet tall) with large white flowers, lavender-pink at the base. A late bloomer. May not be as fragrant.
* ‘Grace McDade’ – This plant has a loose, shrubby habit. Flowers are large, white inside and lavender-pink outside.
* ‘Lennei’ – This stiff, broad shrub has huge flowers, white inside with dark purplish-magenta outside. It flowers late, and usually sporadically into the summer. The leaves are larger than most.
* ‘Rustica Rubra’ – This is possibly a seedling of ‘Lennei,’ but is a larger and looser shrub. Flowers are rose-red with white inside.
* ‘San Jose’ – This is an early bloomer with large, fragrant, rosy purple flowers. A vigorous grower.
* ‘Speciosa’ – This late-flowering, dense tree has white blooms with flushed purple at the base.
* ‘Verbanica’ – This is a slow-growing late bloomer. Flowers are rose pink outside, with white at the tips. Young plant blooms profusely."





Magnolia 'Vulcan'. We bought this tree about 3 or 4 years ago from Wayside Gardens and it was touted to be one of the "reddest" of all Magnolias. I'm quite disapointed in the color. It looks more magenta than red and in fact look quite pink. The inside is an even lighter pink so I think it's fallacious to call it a red magnolia. The 'Jane' is a deeper shade of magenta.





Three Magnolia 'Stellata' trees at the north side of the house still blooming. The coolness has kept these trees from blooming earlier so they've kept their blossoms longer than the ones in warmer locations.