An Old Collection 

 of Hardy Magnolias 



A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SIX- 

 TEEN MAGNOLIAS THAT HAVE 

 ATTAINED MATURITY IN THE 

 NORTH-THE TREES THAT HAVE 

 THE LARGEST FLOWERS-THEY 

 MUST BE PLANTED IN APRIL 



By John F. Johnston, 



Long Island, 

 N. Y. 



The purple magnolia (M. obcmata) 



THE oldest collection of magnolias in 

 America, so far as I know, is that 

 made by the late Mr. Charles A. Dana, 

 formerly editor of the Sun newspaper of 

 New York, at his summer home, Dosoris, 

 Glen Cove, Long Island. Mr. Dana was a 

 noted patron of horticulture, and during his 

 life time his place was visited by distinguished 

 horticulturists from all parts of the world. 



The white Chinese magnolia (M. Yulan or conspicua) 



The collection of evergreens is the largest 

 one of any considerable age in the vicinity 

 of New York and probably ranks second 

 only to that of Mr. Hunnewell at Wellesley. 



As magnolias have the largest flowers of 

 any trees in cultivation and are consequently 

 very popular, the Dana collection has peculiar 

 interest, and all the more so since magnolias 

 are rather high-priced and very particular 

 about transplanting. While the headquar- 

 ters for information about any group of 

 trees is the Arnold Arboretum at Jamaica 

 Plains, Mass., the Dana collection has great 

 interest in the history of American horti- 

 culture because of the numerous trees and 

 shrubs that are hardy here but not at Boston, 

 and because many species have bloomed or 

 fruited here for the first time. For example, 

 Magnolia grandiflora is not hardy here, but 

 it is kept alive by wrapping its trunk and 

 branches with straw each winter and Mag- 

 nolia hypoleuca has fruited here, probably 

 for the first time in this country. 



The Dana collection of magnolias com- 

 prises all the hardy species described and 

 distinguished in The Garden Magazine 

 for June, 1906, except M. acuminata, but 

 it does not contain all the beautiful hybrids 

 of the Soulangeana group.* 



The table on page 149 is far from ideal, 

 as it omits several species and gives the dates 

 for only one season and one locality, viz. 

 1905 at Dosoris, but it is published here 

 because a few definite facts are better than 

 vague generalities. Unfortunately, I am not 

 able to give camparative dates for M . acum- 

 inata, Kobus and tripetala. 



I. Blooming Before the Leaves 



The species whose flowers appear before 

 the leaves are early-blooming (March, 

 April) and show to better advantage if a 

 dark, evergreen background appears instead 

 of a deciduous one. They often look well 



Soulangeana, First of the hybirds which get their color and hardiness respectively from the above species 



148 



* It is to be hoped that some one will make a complete col- 

 lection of these hybrids and give us a table of blooming dates 

 and colors. Twelve or more kinds can be secured in different 

 parts of the world. The Garden Magazine will be glad 

 to assist anyone who wishes to secure a complete collection. 



