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by Trevor Cole
photos by Tracy Cox |
Magical
Magnolias |
Add
an exotic touch to the spring garden
with the tried-and-true and the new |
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| The
creamy pink blooms of a saucer magnolia seen up
close. |
| MEET
THE GIRLS |
| In
the mid-1950s, staff at the U.S. National Arboretum
in Washington, D.C., carried out a magnolia-breeding
program to extend the blooming season, developing
slightly later varieties whose flowers would be
resistant to late frost damage. Eight named varieties,
affectionately known as “the Girls,”
were released in 1965. They need a more acidic soil
than the star and saucer magnolias. Both flower
size and number of petals vary from year to year,
and may depend on prevalent conditions the previous
summer while buds were formed. Hardy to Zone 5b,
the Girls form upright shrubs that grow to 4.5 metres
tall. Many also have blooms that open sporadically
during the summer. In order of flowering sequence,
below are the Girls. |
|
Magnolias.
Their very name conjures up images of southern belles in hoop
skirts, languidly sipping mint juleps in the shade. And yet
these trees and shrubs are not as exotic as they seem. Many
varieties can be grown in Canada, some even in Zone 4.
The most popular types, such as
saucer and star magnolia cultivars, are justly prized for their
showy, fragrant flowers that open in early spring (at about
the same time as forsythia and early narcissus) before their
leaves emerge. Though a late frost can nip their flowers in
the bud, in a good year their blooms will last for two to three
weeks before dropping. To extend the period of bloom even further,
plant May-blooming magnolia varieties, such as lily magnolia
(Magnolia liliiflora) or the spectacular yellow-flowered ‘Elizabeth’
or ‘Yellow Bird’.
While magnolias are best loved
for their dazzling, exotic, winter-blues-chasing spring flowers,
they have something to offer throughout the seasons. Their large,
shiny green, leathery leaves look fresh all summer and turn
an attractive chestnut brown in autumn. In winter, the handsome,
smooth, grey bark—similar to that of a beech tree—comes
into its own, while the big, velvety flower buds are not only
comely, but are good indicators of the following spring’s
potential blooms as well. |
| VARIETY |
COLOUR
IN/OUT |
FLOWER
SIZE |
#
PETALS |
| 'Ann' |
red
purple/pale purple |
10
cm |
8 |
| 'Betty' |
red
purple/white |
20
cm |
19 |
| 'Judy' |
red
purple/cream |
8
cm |
10 |
| 'Randy' |
red
purple/white |
12
cm |
11 |
| 'Ricki' |
red
purple/red purple |
15
cm |
15 |
| 'Susan' |
red
purple/pale purple |
12
cm |
6 |
| 'Jane' |
red
purple/white |
10
cm |
10 |
| 'Pinkie' |
pale
purple/white |
18
cm |
9
to 12 |
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| PART
1 | PART 2 | PART
3 | PART 4 |
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