MAGNOLIA

MAGNOLIAS, named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol, are an ancient genus and it is thought that pollination was by beetles as the trees appeared before bees. Fossilised remains from the family are 95 million years old.

The main centre of distribution is eastern and southeastern Asia with a secondary centre in eastern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.

LARGE and SPECIMEN sized magnolias are almost all grafted plants. Many are also very rare.

LARGE plants are 2-3 year old grafts and SPECIMEN plants 3-5 year old grafts.

Different Magnolia varieties grow at very different speeds and therefore the size of a LARGE or a SPECIMEN plant and the exact pot size it is delivered in can vary markedly for plants of identical age and also on time of year, since Magnolias can grow very quickly.

Many more magnolia pictures can be found on the Caerhays Website and The Garden Diary.

Full Plant Details - Sun/Soil & other attributes

Pests & Diseases
Scale insects, honey fungus, coral spot.
Place of origin
Nepal, India, Bhutan - Burncoose plants are grafts from specimen tree at Caerhays, Cornwall, UK.
Deciduous
Oblong-elliptic, mid-green leaves to 25cm (10in) long.
Shades of pink
All shades of pink through to Carmine (red)

White or crimson to pale pink flowers.
White
Cup-and-saucer-shaped
To 30cm (12in) across.
Frost hardy (down to -5)
Height
15m (49ft)
Spread
10m (33ft)
Tree
Vigorous conical, then spreading, tree.
Hardy - average winter
Hardy through most of the UK apart from inland valleys, at altitude and central/northerly locations. May suffer foliage damage and stem dieback in harsh winters in cold gardens. Plant can withstand temperatures down to -10°C (14°F)
Fertile moist well-drained soil
Humus-rich.
Neutral to acid soil
Full sun
shelter from strong winds.
Partial shade
Broadly conical
Spreading with age