30 
House & Garden 
MAGNOLIAS TO BLOOM IN THE SPRING' 
Some of the Best oj These Flowering Shrubs and Trees Which Are 
Adaptable to Many Situations 
E. BADE 
T HE magnolia season is an annual 
surprise that never grows old. So 
early in the season that they com¬ 
panion the golden flower bells of the 
forsythia, the first blossoms appear, 
great pink or creamy saucers poised on 
branches still bare of leaves. Many 
kinds are fragrant, all are strikingly 
beautiful even without the long, glossy 
leaves which follow and persist through 
the season. 
The species of magnolia which are 
generally grown as ornamentals are 
either bush or tree forms. The small¬ 
est can be successfully planted in a 
very modest space. 
Various Species 
Perhaps the most com¬ 
monly seen magnolia is 
M. Soulangeana, a cross 
between M. denudata and 
M. liliflora. Its bell¬ 
shaped flowers are often 
purple without and white 
within. They appear in 
May after M. Stellata has 
bloomed and while M. 
glauca still has its flowers 
closed. If the four small¬ 
er species, M. Stellata, M. 
Soulangeana, M. glauca 
and M. Thompsoniana, are 
planted one will have flow¬ 
ers from the end of March 
to and through June. Un¬ 
der some conditions Sou¬ 
langeana flowers in late 
summer—that is, when it 
was excessively pruned or 
when the flowers were in¬ 
jured by drought. This spe¬ 
cies has a number of varie¬ 
ties, the most important of 
which are Lennei, nigra, 
Alexandria a, Nobertiana 
and speciosa. They differ 
from the type species in 
having blossoms of a slight¬ 
ly different color or opening 
at a different time. The 
flowers of Lennei are crim¬ 
son instead of red. Alex- 
andrina is purplish outside, 
while speciosa has white 
flowers striped with purple. 
None of these varieties is 
as hardy as the species. 
Magnolia glauca and M. 
tripetala have produced the 
variety Thompsoniana, but 
this is not as hardy as the 
two species from which it 
WSSmM 
One of the hardiest magnolias is M. Kobus, 
with flowers 4 " to 5 " across. It is a tree 
form, sometimes 80 ' high 
M. Soulangeana 
has white, often 
fragrant flowers, 
purplish on the 
outside 
A particularly 
showy sort is M. 
Yulan,with flow¬ 
ers white or pink¬ 
ish 
The flower above 
is M. Yulan. It 
is fragrant and 
when open is 6 " 
across 
The earlier mag¬ 
nolias flower be¬ 
fore the trees 
leaf out. Below, 
Soulangeana 
was derived. It is a bush or small tree 
form with fragrant white flowers which 
appear in June and on into July—the 
last of the magnolia varieties to bloom. 
Other Good Sorts 
M. stellata, which is also known as 
M. Halleaiia, grows broad and bushy 
and develops its flowers while still 
young. They appear in March, before 
the leaves. This species should be 
planted in light shade so that the early 
buds and flowers will not be frost- 
killed. When it has plenty of room, 
stellata will develop into a 
well formed bush without 
the necessity of pruning. 
The flowers always appear 
on the new wood. The 
known and recognized va¬ 
rieties are rosea and flore 
plena. 
White and reddish flow¬ 
ers are produced by M. 
parvijlora, an inhabitant 
of Japan, and M. Watsoni, 
both flowering in June. 
These species are compara¬ 
tively hardy. 
Both the species and va¬ 
rieties of M. glauca thrive 
best in a damp, boggy 
soil, where they develop 
into small trees. For more 
or less dry places, M. ma- 
crophylla is the best fitted. 
This species is more deli¬ 
cate and its flowers are not 
so beautiful. M. acumi¬ 
nata is suitable only for ex¬ 
tensive grounds, as it grows 
into a tree sometimes up¬ 
ward of 80' high. Its flow¬ 
ers are neither large nor 
striking, but its coral red 
fruit makes the tree more 
beautiful and ornamental. 
M. kobus develops into 
pyramidal form and grows 
to be a small tree covered • 
with white flowers early in 
spring. M. Yulan, or con- 
spicua, is also comparative¬ 
ly large, as is obovata, the 
best known red magnolia. 
Planting 
Although the majority of 
bushes and trees can be 
successfully transplanted in 
the fall as well as the 
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