Articles by Lee County Master Gardeners
Star Magnolia Tulip Magnolia
Magnolia
By Suzannne Crow
Not many homeowners have room in their yards for the spectacularly large southern magnolia but there are other great options if you want to include a magnolia in your landscape. “Little Gem’ magnolia is most often the best choice due to its smaller size and stature and it is also a grandiflora that closely resembles the southern magnolia. It has beautiful flowers, fragrance, and foliage packed into its much smaller size. Although sold as a ‘dwarf’, this blue ribbon-performing tree can reach heights of 30 feet.
Sweetbay magnolia is a smaller tree that usually grows as a multi-trunked form, typically reaching 20-60 feet tall. It produces paler green leaves and smaller flowers than the grandifloras but is a lovely and fragrant native tree worthy of the home landscape. The sweetbay flowers are late in the spring, avoiding much of the frost that can spoil blossoms on trees that are early bloomers. Some disadvantages are that the tree may lose leaves in really cold weather and is not drought tolerant. Sweetbay, whose botanical name is magnolia virginiana, is not the bay leaf that you can cook with. Bay leaves safe for cooking are all within the Lauraceae family of plants.
The tulip magnolia (also known as saucer or Japanese) is a beautiful flowering tree that is one of the first plants to bloom when spring is arriving. Tulip-shaped, pink blossoms cover this small tree which is the envy of the neighborhood. You may want to select a late-spring blooming selection (Little Girl series, “Alexandrinia) because, unfortunately, tulip magnolias don’t bloom if there is a late frost. This tree likes full sun and will only reach a height of 15-30 feet. One of Napoleon’s retired cavalry officers is credited with first making the cross of two different magnolia species and planting it all over Europe to beautify the landscape after the war.
Star magnolia, known as magnolia stellata, is another early flowering small tree, growing 15-20 feet high. The showy star-shaped blooms are usually white, although some cultivars have pink flowers. It is the earliest of the deciduous magnolias to flower, so blooms are subject to frost damage. Plant the star magnolia in a protected site to prevent severe frost damage and avoid southern exposures where the buds may be induced to open too early and subsequently damaged.
Suzanne Crow is a Lee County Master Gardener
Magnolia
By Suzannne Crow
Not many homeowners have room in their yards for the spectacularly large southern magnolia but there are other great options if you want to include a magnolia in your landscape. “Little Gem’ magnolia is most often the best choice due to its smaller size and stature and it is also a grandiflora that closely resembles the southern magnolia. It has beautiful flowers, fragrance, and foliage packed into its much smaller size. Although sold as a ‘dwarf’, this blue ribbon-performing tree can reach heights of 30 feet.
Sweetbay magnolia is a smaller tree that usually grows as a multi-trunked form, typically reaching 20-60 feet tall. It produces paler green leaves and smaller flowers than the grandifloras but is a lovely and fragrant native tree worthy of the home landscape. The sweetbay flowers are late in the spring, avoiding much of the frost that can spoil blossoms on trees that are early bloomers. Some disadvantages are that the tree may lose leaves in really cold weather and is not drought tolerant. Sweetbay, whose botanical name is magnolia virginiana, is not the bay leaf that you can cook with. Bay leaves safe for cooking are all within the Lauraceae family of plants.
The tulip magnolia (also known as saucer or Japanese) is a beautiful flowering tree that is one of the first plants to bloom when spring is arriving. Tulip-shaped, pink blossoms cover this small tree which is the envy of the neighborhood. You may want to select a late-spring blooming selection (Little Girl series, “Alexandrinia) because, unfortunately, tulip magnolias don’t bloom if there is a late frost. This tree likes full sun and will only reach a height of 15-30 feet. One of Napoleon’s retired cavalry officers is credited with first making the cross of two different magnolia species and planting it all over Europe to beautify the landscape after the war.
Star magnolia, known as magnolia stellata, is another early flowering small tree, growing 15-20 feet high. The showy star-shaped blooms are usually white, although some cultivars have pink flowers. It is the earliest of the deciduous magnolias to flower, so blooms are subject to frost damage. Plant the star magnolia in a protected site to prevent severe frost damage and avoid southern exposures where the buds may be induced to open too early and subsequently damaged.
Suzanne Crow is a Lee County Master Gardener
