The saucer magnolia’s elegant 8-inch flowers bloom in early spring. (Photo by Jonah Holland courtesy Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden)
When we complain about our magnolias,” concedes Nancy Ross Hugo in her book, “Seeing Trees,” “it’s usually because of their thick, waxy leaves, which blow across the lawn and seem to take forever to decompose.” She’s referring to the love-hate relationship we have with the same glossy green leaves whose longevity we prize in holiday decorations, along with their cinnamon-suede undersides. “The solution to the problem of leaves on the lawn is not to limb the tree up,” she says. Instead, avoid pruning the lowermost branches, and the “leaves will collect under the tree skirt.” An Ashland-based garden columnist, freelance journalist and educator, Hugo has published three books about trees, and she speaks from experience about the magnolias she loves.
The Magnolia Society International identifies more than 200 species of magnolia globally, in addition to thousands of cultivated varieties. Eight of those species are native to the United States — two evergreen and six deciduous. Hugo shares her Central Virginia favorites.
Southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) dates back more than 95 million years, to a time before bees and butterflies. Their creamy, lemon-vanilla-scented blossoms are among the largest tree flowers native to North America. Southern magnolia blooms in late spring, giving way in the fall to cones studded with seeds that remind Hugo of shiny red M&M’s. This iconic evergreen can grow from 60 to 80 feet tall, with a spread of 30 to 50 feet.
The small, cup-shaped white flowers of Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) bloom in mid-spring, spiking the air with their sweet, lemony perfume. Its elongated oval leaves have silvery undersides, providing a striking backdrop for the fat cones of shiny red seeds that mature in the fall. “They’re so Virginia,” Hugo raves about the tree whose spreading, rounded crown and loose habit matures at a height of 15 to 20 feet.
Saucer magnolia (Magnolia x soulangeana) is the most commonly grown deciduous magnolia, beloved for its elegant 8-inch flowers that bloom in various shades of white, pink, rose, purple, magenta and burgundy in early spring, before the foliage emerges. “It will knock your socks off,” Hugo says. Saucer magnolia presents as a broad shrub or small tree that typically rises to a height of 20 to 25 feet with a rounded crown.
“The tricky thing about growing magnolias is space,” Hugo cautions. Magnolias can grow from 20 to 80 feet in height, so “pay attention to the mature size and shape of the tree you choose,” she says. “Trees are so long-lived, it is such a tragedy when you’ve put the wrong one in the wrong place.” Otherwise, magnolias are mercifully low-maintenance. They are rarely susceptible to pests and disease and don’t seem to appeal to deer. Plant them in rich, well-drained and neutral to slightly acidic soil. And then just “leave them alone and enjoy them,” Hugo says.
