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 - Click to close

Pests & Diseases
Scale insects, honey fungus, coral spot.
Place of origin
Raised at Washington Arboretum, Seattle, USA, from seeds from Japan.
Magnolias - larger gardens
Magnolia
Deciduous
Narrow, dark-green leaves to 18cm (7in) long. Leaves are bronze tinted when young.
White
Cup-shaped
Open cup-shaped to 15cm (6in) across with 6 large tepals.
Fully hardy
Entire
Ovate
Height
9m (30ft)
Spread
7m (23ft)
Tree
Hardy - very cold winter
Hardy in all of UK and northern Europe. Plant can possibly withstand temperatures down to -20°C (-4°F)
Scented flowers
Fertile moist well-drained soil
Humus-rich
Neutral to acid soil
Full sun
Shelter from strong winds.
Partial shade
Broadly conical
Rounded to broadly spreading