Southern comfort from graceful
Magnolias

Henry Homeyer

Toward the end of Bill Clinton’s time in office I got to tour the White House gardens and interview the gardener, Dale Haney. Haney told me the story behind two magnificent southern magnolias on the south side of the White House. They had been brought up as saplings from Tennessee by President Andrew Jackson - on horseback - in memory of his young wife who had recently died. They tower over the White House as living memorials - 175 years later.

Those magnolias inspired me to plant my own, even though our winters are too cold to grow the same species of magnolia. I planted a white hybrid known as Dr. Merrill that has done well for me. Its botanic name is “Magnolia x loebneri.” I bought mine as a 3-foot-tall tree and planted it in full sun in the middle of a grassy area with soil that stays somewhat moist all year round. It is now 15 feet tall and about 10 feet wide.

One of the best features about magnolias is that they bloom early. Mine blooms not only before its leaves come out, but before any of my other trees leaf out either. It started blooming this year on April 23. It will bloom for a week or two, depending on the temperature. If we were to get a cold snap with temperatures in the low 20s, the blossoms would be damaged, even turn to mush, I’ve read. That hasn’t ever happened to mine (knock on wood).

The blossoms of my Dr. Merrill magnolia are about 3 inches across, and each has a dozen wide, strap like petals that form a semi-double blossom. I recently went to see another Loebner hybrid magnolia known as “Leonard Messel,” which is growing next to the town offices in Hanover, N.H. That one is pink on the outside and white on the inside, and really quite lovely. These hybrids will grow to be about 25 feet tall and wide. It is, like most northern magnolias, lightly fragrant.

The star magnolia (magnolia stellata) is a smaller magnolia, growing only to 15 or 20 feet tall with a spread of perhaps 10 to 15 feet. They have nice white blossoms, and generally their branches have an airy or open configuration. They are slower growing than the Dr. Merrill magnolias, but have the same lovely gray bark that looks good all year round.

My standard reference text, Michael Dirr’s Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, indicates that the star magnolia is less hardy than the Loebner Hybrids (which are good to 35 below zero), handling only temperatures of 10 to 20 below. I know of several star magnolias doing well and regularly surviving 30 below. Perhaps the key is to plant in a place where the cold north wind is blocked by a building or some evergreen trees.

The saucer magnolia, magnolia soulangiana, has a very dramatic blossom, some reaching 5 or 6 inches in diameter. They range in color from white to pink to purplish, and are often lighter-colored on the inside. Like the star magnolia, they are rated as hardy to 10 to 20 below zero, but I know of two growing in Claremont, N.H., where the temperatures regularly fall to minus 20, and occasionally colder. Lee Stevens of Log Cabin Nursery in Claremont planted his right next to the house on the south side, where it is well protected, and it is now 20 years old. Another in town was planted in the 1960s.

As with all plants, if the soil and light conditions are right for a plant, it will persist and even flourish outside the rated hardiness zone. I’ve read that the saucer magnolia is nice because it flowers when it is only 2 to 4 feet tall, which is sooner than most. It is sometimes kept small and used like a multistemmed shrub.

Magnolias, as a group, are relatively trouble-free. I’ve never had an infestation of insects, or seen any mildew on the leaves, even in hot, wet summers. The leaves of the magnolia are wonderful all summer long. They are deep green and glossy, so nice that some florists use them in arrangements.

I haven’t done any hard pruning on my Dr. Merrill because the tree seems to be flourishing. The interior of the tree is full of dense foliage, but it’s all vigorous, so I haven’t felt a need to remove much. At Saint Gaudens National Historic Monument in Cornish, N.H., there is a pair of Dr. Merrill magnolias that have been nicely pruned to show off the bark by removing the lower branches and creating an open branching pattern above. They bookmark the Adams Memorial.

I’m not sure why there aren’t more magnolias planted in New England. They’re wonderful trees - their only fault, if they have one, is that unseasonably cold spring temperatures can ruin the blossoms - just when you’re looking forward to them.

I know it sounds silly, but the buds of my magnolia help to get me through the winter. Some times I put on snowshoes and trudge down to my tree and admire the large fuzzy buds that rival pussy willows for sheer cuteness. I like to imagine my tree in full bloom. And now it is, a spring blessing from Mother Nature.

 

Henry Homeyer is the author of

Notes from the Garden: Reflections and Observations of an Organic Gardener.

Write him at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, N.H. 03746;

send e-mail to gardening.guy@valley.net;

his Web site is www.gardening-guy.com.