MAGNOLIAS a fleeting but brilliant addition to the landscape
Seize the moment and enjoy the fragile bloom while it lasts
While I do enjoy visiting faraway gardens, many of my favourite gardens are right here in Niagara and no more than a 15-minute drive from home.
Situated along the upper Niagara River, between the power station and Dufferin Islands, the walkway surrounding Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse is dressed to celebrate spring in shades of creamy pink and white — the Magnolia Allée is in bloom.
A generously proportioned walkway, lined with more than 50 saucer magnolias (magnolia x soulangeana), roughly draws a semicircle in front of the Showhouse and offers one of the prettiest spring walks in all of Niagara.
Saucer magnolias flower with lush, tulip-shaped blooms in shades of cream and pink and are gently fragrant. Just imagine walking through a virtual tunnel of fragrant, satiny petals, all underplanted with pachysandra (also sporting spikes of white blooms at this time of the year) with blue skies overhead, serpentine parterre beds of brilliant tulips in the formal lawn and the roar of the mighty falls in the background. It makes for a memorable, picture-perfect walk.
Given that magnolia flowers are fleeting — the blooms usually last about two weeks — and because they are also fragile — the flowers can easily be damaged by late frosts, strong winds or heavy rain — it’s all the more important to seize the moment and get down to the park to enjoy this spectacular display.
While visiting British Columbia a few weeks ago, many suburban and downtown front gardens featured flowering trees such as Japanese cherry, as well as both star and saucer magnolias. Even on a rainy morning, the trees brightened the streetscape and cheered my spirits.
Let’s take a look at several popular, early flowering magnolia trees that would make a lovely addition to more local properties.
The genus magnolia includes some 100 species, plus numerous hybrids and cultivars. Magnolias prefer moist, acidic, organically rich, well-drained loam in full sun to part shade. A mulch of compost or bark will help the soil retain moisture. Their fleshy root system is easily damaged during transplanting, so it is best to select a location carefully and leave magnolias undisturbed once planted.
Ideally, they should be placed in a spot that is sheltered from strong winds. A southern exposure close to the house should also be avoided — buds may be encouraged to open on a warm spring day and may then be damaged by frost. If required, prune just after flowering.
Saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana)
Magnolia soulangeana, commonly known as the saucer magnolia, is a very popular deciduous magnolia. It is a small tree that typically reaches to six-to-seven metres tall with a rounded crown and often features multiple trunks.
Fragrant flowers bloom in early spring before the leaves appear. Flowers are pink with white interiors. Saucer magnolia is perhaps the most popular deciduous magnolia in cultivation today, with a large number of hybrid cultivars now available in commerce featuring flowers in various shades of white, pink, rose, purple, magenta and burgundy.
Star magnolia (Magnolia stellata)
Magnolia stellata, often called star or stella magnolia, is native to Japan. It is a small deciduous tree that typically grows between 4.5 and six metres tall with a spreading, rounded crown. It is also often grown as a large rounded shrub.
It is noted for its compact size and late winter to early spring bloom of star-shaped white flowers. Each flower typically has 12 to 18 narrow, straplike tepals.
The “royal star” has slightly larger and showier flowers than the species. The fragrant white flowers (seven to 10 cm diameter) each have 25-30 tepals.
Magnolia x loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’
The Leonard Messel magnolia, also known as the Loebner magnolia, is a deciduous hybrid magnolia, a cross between M. kobus and M. stellata. It is a small tree typically growing to six to seven metres tall with a rounded crown. It is more often grown in a multi-trunked form than as a single trunk tree.
Fragrant starlike pink flowers (10 to 15 cm wide) with 10 to 15 petals give way to showy conelike fruits that ripen to red in late summer. Hybrid cultivars are now available with white, blush-pink or lilac flowers.
This is a charming specimen tree for the lawn or shrub border. My own Leonard Messel magnolia was bought on a whim from a sidewalk sale at a box store — it not only survived, but has thrived in my back garden, enjoying pride of place just beyond my east facing kitchen window.