Magnolia zenii, Magnolia biondii, Magnolia kobus, stellata, officinalis, fordiana.....we've got a lot of magnolias in the Asian Collection. There are a lot more in the adjacent Holly Magnolia Collection, not to mention the native species in Fern Valley and the cultivars spotted around the grounds.The early, i.e. "precocious", (a technical term so far as Magnolias are concerned) will begin flowering any time now. The large flowers of the early magnolias are almost all fragrant....wonderful plants except that occasionally a late frost will nail them, turning their flowers to brown mush. The good news would be that the 17 day forecast has essentially no freezing nights, except maybe one at 31F and another at 32F. It should be another good season; that will be our third in a row. I probably shouldn't have said that....tempting fate and all that. Oh well, too late. come and see them anytime from mid-March to early April.
Many previously independent generea have been collapsed into "Magnolia". If you want to take your magnolia knowledge to another level, register for our April 2 Magnolia Study Day with Andrew Bunting, who is the president of the Magnolia Society International and the curator of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore. Just hours ago, Carole told Pat and I that we could show up for the festivities and I'll definitely be there.
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