Magnolia stellata 'Jane Platt'
Take a walk up Battleston Hill and look to the left of the broadwalk to see the spectacular starry pale pink flowers on this beautiful magnolia. Wander through the magical Wild Garden to find another, as well as up on the Rock Bank near the waterfall.
Vital statistics
- Common name
- Star magnolia
- Family
- Magnoliaceae
- Height & spread
- 3m (10ft) x 4m (12ft)
- Form
- Vigorous and bushy
- Soil
- The ideal soil for magnolias is a medium, neutral to acidic loam with plenty of organic matter to hold moisture. They thrive in a wide range of soil types, and most will at least tolerate alkaline conditions.
- Aspect
- Sun or partial shade, with shelter from strong winds.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy to frost tender. Flowers and sometimes young foliage, of early flowering magnolias may be damaged by late frosts.
Magnolia
This is a genus of about 125 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs, occurring in woodland, in scrub and on riverbanks. They can be found in the Himalayas, east and south-east Asia and from eastern North America to tropical North and South America.
Magnolia was named after the French botanist Pierre Magnol (June 8, 1638 – May 21, 1715), and ranks as one of the most ancient of the Angiosperm (flowering plant) genera. There are fossil remains of their flowers dating back 100 million years, alongside fossilised beetles which are their major pollinators also found in abundance from that period.
Magnolias are valued for their longevity (many magnolias take from 8-15 years to flower from seed) and for their exquisite and fragrant blooms, which are often borne before the leaves. They also have some of the largest flowers of any tree or shrub grown in the gardens of temperate zones. The flowers have usually six to nine tepals; colours include pure white, white flushed or stained pink or purple, pink, rich purple, creamy or greenish yellow and light to mid-yellow. The alternate leaves are usually obovate to ovate, oblong or elliptic. Cone-like fruits, often with red coated seeds, are attractive in autumn.
Magnolia stellata 'Jane Platt'
From Japan, this is a vigorous and bushy deciduous shrub with obovate-oblong to inversely lance shaped, mid-green leaves, to 10cm (4in) long. Silky buds open to star-shaped rich pink flowers to 10cm (4in) across, with up to 32 tepals.
Cultivation
- Grow in moist, well-drained, humus-rich, preferably acidic to neutral soil, although M. stellata will tolerate moist alkaline soils, in sun or partial shade with protection from strong winds.
- Mulch with manure and leaf mould in early spring.
- Pruning group 1.
- Prone to coral spot and scale insects.
Propagation
- Sow seed in a seedbed in autumn. Stratified seeds germinate freely.
- Root greenwood cuttings in early summer or semi-ripe cuttings in late summer.