For me, thinking about the magnolia conjures up thoughts of warm spring days and visions of showy, pink-kissed petals. On a tree that is broadly spreading, the abundant blooms dance like little girl’s dresses. This is what magnolias are supposed to look like.

Often in Michigan, the fuzzy, prominent buds open with a rush of warm nights only to be frozen.

Last spring had to be one of the most memorable years for all our blooming trees except the magnolia. It was the reason we all trotted off to the garden center to buy one. The floral display was spectacular. This genus is made up of about 125 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and large shrubs that have a native range from tropical climates in Asia to more temperate climates across North America.

I will never forget the first time I spotted a magnolia in the Appalachian Mountains. The tree had leaves 2 1/2-feet long. A native tree found in Ohio, the bigleaf magnolia (magnolia macrophylla), is very striking. It sports 10-inch, creamy white, sweetly fragrant flowers that really pack a punch. Although its a native U.S. tree, this specimen is hard to find in garden centers and usually is planted only as a novelty in parks and botanic gardens.

The hardiness zone reaches into southern Michigan. I recall the specimens we studied in college on Michigan State University’s campus. Raking the skateboard-sized leaves in the fall is best done with a pitch fork.

Michigan State horticulture professor Tom Fernandez said bigleaf magnolia is just one of his favorites. Although the saucer magnolia is the best known, he said many clones and crosses have made choices in this group of trees much more abundant as well as suitable for Michigan climates.

Some of the breeding work has led to trees every bit as showy as the saucer magnolia but with later blooming times that get them past that last bit of winter.

Favorite magnolias

The hybrid magnolia known as “galaxy” is an upright pyramidal form with an ultimate height of 30-40 feet. It’s hardy to zone 5 and is the first clone to be released that is a late bloomer. The flowers are a very showy reddish purple in spring and can reach 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Like their magnolia parents, these trees also have the typical “magnolia shaped” oblong leaves and showy, silver bark, Fernandez said.

He also likes “coral lake.” At only 15-20 feet tall, this pyramidal formed tree can fit into almost any landscape. Hardy to zone 5, the flower characteristics will make you do a double take. The 7-inch blooms are salmon-peach with yellow stripes, unlike our traditional clones, according to Fernandez.

“Moonglow” magnolia takes a bit different twist with its semi-evergreen foliage. This tree can take full sun to part shade and tends to have a multiple trunk with upright branching. The fragrant blooms are creamy yellow and don’t open until late spring or early summer.

More like a large shrub than a tree, the star magnolia really is one of my personal favorites. The first to bloom in this group of magnolias, the flowers more often escape those late spring frosts. Its silky, cone-shaped buds open with petals that are more straplike and are a pure, bridal white. The tree has smaller, but still “magnolia-shaped” leaves. It is a reliable and sturdy tree for our area.

Alien fruit

Magnolia fruit is curious. It often brings gardeners to the lawn-and-garden hot line thinking an alien has landed in their trees. (Maybe that’s where they got the name “saucer magnolia.”) Shaped like a lumpy cone, as the smooth, red seeds emerge, it looks like a green banana oozing red M&Ms. I think of it as an autumn delight.

Magnolias are not totally free of pests. The most devastating one is magnolia scale, a late-season, soft-shelled insect. The telltale sign of magnolia scale is the blackish, sooty-mold that forms on leaves, twigs and anything underneath the tree throughout the summer. Normally, we encourage people to let many of these pests run their course, but this in not one of them. With proper care, control of this insect is attainable.

source : www.azstarnet.com