Botany Photo of the Day

Interesting sitting here in the Mid Atlantic U.S. and seeing the juxtaposition of a (here) spring-flowering magnolia (soulangiana?) and a palm. It looks incongruous to me! Just goes to show it's all about where you are.

Aah! The first Magnolias in the garden... What joys to come! Thank you for reminding me... I'll be planning my beautiful spring visit soon!

These are actually the third or fourth magnolias to flower in the garden (pardon me for being pedantic). The magnolia in flower is Magnolia campbellii subsp. mollicomata. To the right of this plant, out of the camera's view is a M. sargentiana var. robusta, which had completely finished flowering when this picture was taken last year. Possibly because of the microclimate here, near the top of the escarpment above Wreck Beach, this specimen is at least two weeks earlier than any other Sargent's magnolia in the Botanical Garden, including (curiously) one about 20m away with a similar exposure. The experienced magnoliaphile would recognize M. sargentiana flowers as being decidedly lopsided and irregular, while those of M. campbellii more symmetrical and upright (they are often refered to as "cup-and-saucer" shaped).

Today, the weather is mild (about 9C/48F), and it has finally (!) stopped raining. There are perhaps two dozen flowers in various stages of emergence on this Sargent's magnolia right now. This specimen, which came to us in 1986 as a scion from Gossler Farms (Oregon) as var. robusta "dark form" produces rather smaller, but brighter pink flowers than is typical of the commonly cultivated robusta. Like a great many of the magnolias in the Botanical Garden's collections, this and the M. campbellii pictured, were grafted in our own nursery by the master grafter, Charles Tubesing, now at the Holden Arboretum (Kirtland, Ohio).

Of the larger flowered Asian species, the bubblegum scented M. sprengeri (and its seedlings, such as the spectacular 'Eric Savill') are typically next to flower here, followed by M. dawsoniana and M. campbellii. In all we have some fifty different large-flowered magnolias. I find it difficult to pick a favourite, but the magenta purple, bowl-shaped flowers of the 10m (33') tall M. campbellii subsp. mollicomata 'Lanarth' visible from my office window, fill me with a certain amount of anticipation.

'Lanarth' is a parent of the Felix Jury hybrid 'Vulcan' fairly easily found in local independent garden centers (down here, anyway) for at least several years now. I have one about 4m tall in my garden which has never produced the characteristic reddish flowers (but is definitely the true item, having the correct flower structure - just not the exciting coloring). Other local specimens do put out stunning blooms, so it's not a regional problem (poor coloring has also been seen in UK).

http://images.google.com/images?q=magnolia%20vulcan&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi