Plant Talk

Best Magnolia for Small Urban Gardens? Take Your Pick....

Just as Magnolia stellata is coming into full, icy white bloom here on Queen Anne hill, I received the following magnolia inquiry: 

Question:  We are looking for a magnolia that is in the 20-25 feet range for our house in Columbia City. What would you recommend? I have memories of an amazing Japanese magnolia in our first home in Long Island. Would love to get your input on this.  PS, my husband was inspired by your video and is threatening to resign as yard boy!     Aaliyah Gupta

Answer:  I warn you that once my husband started kayaking and biking every weekend, there was no going back to hauling mulch and digging in the garden! So, my apologies, and I hope you can keep your husband busy in the garden...

I love magnolias, with their handsome structure, large leaves and southern good looks. Many grow too statuesque for city gardens, but if you're looking for a deciduous magnolia you might consider M. x loebneri 'Leonard Messel' with fat, fuzzy buds in winter followed by strap-like pink flowers later in spring. Best of all it tops out at 20 feet tall over many years; in a decade it only grows about 12 feet high. Magnolia 'Pegasus' is another deciduous beauty that stays even smaller, and sports huge white-blushed-with-pink flowers in April.

  If you're looking for a quintessential evergreen, glossy-leafed magnolia, M. grandiflora 'Little Gem' and 'Elizabeth' both stay reasonably small, have lovely copper-colored indementum on the back of their leaves, and bloom in summer. The large, waxy, lemony-fragrant white flowers are cup-shaped and so sweetly scented on warm summer afternoons. Few other small trees have such a presence in the garden year-round.

(See comment chain - Glenn Withey says that 'Little Gem' has really suffered in the last three cold winters, and you should plant it with caution - and only in a warm spot in the garden....)

For a longer list of magnolias that thrive in our climate, check out the Great Plant Picks web page - there are several more smaller magnolias called out by experts, with photos and descriptions. Thanks to GPP's Richie Steffen for these photos....

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Now In Bloom - Magnolia x 'Elizabeth'

Pink, purple and white deciduous magnolias are blooming all over the city, but none sizzle against a dark spring sky like one of the yellow-blooming varieties. The butter yellow M. x 'Elizabeth', the later blooming 'Yellow Bird' and more finely cut 'Butterflies' are a reminder of how few trees have yellow flowers.

Magnolia x 'Elizabeth' (below) is in full and glorious bloom this week in Seattle; its a cross between M. acuminata and M. denudata discovered at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Its flowers sit upright on the branches like fat, glossy cups, then open wide to show a flush of rich yellow, spidery stamens.The fragrant, silky petals are a visceral contrast to the furry gray buds and bare, spreading branches, which will soon enough be covered with large, soft green leaves. 

Give magnolias regular water and little or no pruning; these iconic Southern beauties are the most brazenly showy of spring-bloomers, yet tough enough to hold their own as urban street trees. 

The Most Magnificent Magnolia

Several years ago, Glenn Withey and Charles Price, the curators at the E.B. Dunn Gardens, asked me over for a visit. They served the most delicious chocolate cake, but even more memorable (which is saying quite a lot when it comes to me and chocolate) was the magnolia right outside their front door. I've never seen such a magnificent magnolia before or since, and I remember so clearly how it's pale, fragrant flowers on naked limbs stood out against the storm-cloud dark April sky. And this tree is huge - it has thousands of shell pink gossamer blossoms, each as big as a dinner plate, delicately cupped and centered with frilly, rosy stamen.

I often think of that most gorgeous of trees at this time of year when I first saw it in bloom, and recently thought to ask Glenn about it. He reports that Ed Dunn planted this Magnolia sargentiana 'Robusta' 45 years ago.  Since I, and probably you, didn't get to see the tree in full, lush bloom this year, Glenn and Charles have sent along some photos so vivid you can practically inhale the magnolia flower's fresh, lemony perfume.

The Dunn Garden is a joy and an education to visit because it has such mature specimens, grown to perfection over many years. The garden is open for tours now through July and again September through October;  email (info@dunngardens.org) or call (206-362-0933) for further information and reservations.

 

Dark Theme Continued

Just as I finished a post about the darkly veined beauty of an abutilon named 'Red Tiger', I learned about two deeply dark new plants. What is the attraction for such dark plants, you might ask, in a spring of mostly dark, gloomy days? Deep purple and chocolate brown add richness and depth, emphasizing the chartreuse haze of fresh new leaves, pastel flowers, and brights like red or orange tulips and showy fritillarias. Think of these dark colors as backdrop and counterpoint to all the vividness of spring.....speaking of, did you notice that just this week (finally!!) the maples are opening their leaves, and lilac buds are plumping up? 

A stunning new magnolia from New Zealand hit nurseries this spring;  Magnolia ‘Black Tulip’. We've been tantalized by reports of this glossy dark beauty for the last several years, and finally it's promised to be generally available. 'Black Tulip' (left) has the darkest flowers of any magnolia. It grows quickly to 25 feet, and the goblet-shaped blossoms appear in early spring before the leaves emerge. 

To keep the deep, dark theme going through the summer, there's a new licorice-colored phormium named 'Black Adder' - I like the plant much more than its disquieting name. This is the blackest flax ever bred, but take note it's only hardy to about 20 degrees, which means that in many areas around Puget Sound it might been killed off last winter. Still, most years if you planted 'Black Adder' in a protected place with good drainage, it'd make it through the winter. The unusual color, described as "deep burgundy black with a high gloss overlay" (sounds like a car!) doesn't fade out in the sun. 'Black Adder' is a strong and healthy grower, reaching three feet tall and wide, ideal for containers or accents. Picture its dark blades growing as backdrop to some of the new golden or orange coneflowers, or amidst a tangle of hot-colored dahlias....or as shown here growing out of a sea of golden Japanese forest grass.