Yellow magnolias - an English view
By Mike Robinson
Following the recent article on yellow magnolias in The Garden (Volume 128, Part 4: page 248), which was written primarily from an American’s experience, the following, adapted from an article in the RHS Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group Bulletin may be of interest.
Imagine a denudata magnolia with the flowers not of white but of yellow crowding the branches and shining in the sunlight on one of those glorious clear spring days. Stretch the imagination further and consider a magnolia with the deepest daffodil yellow flowers with green or orange shades - flowering on the naked branches - with frost proof flowers - with large flowers - floriferous on compact growth – with foliage of a good colour – even a 'yellow' Campbellii?
It was probably the photographs of American hybrids 'Elizabeth' and 'Yellow Bird' in the 1984/5 Yearbook that started the excitement about yellow magnolias, so 10 years later, with so many 'yellow' magnolias registered and many more new hybrids on trial, has what has actually been achieved justified that early enthusiasm?
Judgement of what has actually been achieved is hampered by a number of things - the lack of an objective evaluation of a complete collection of the new yellows growing under UK conditions - the registration of new yellows seemingly every week - and the hype of enthusiastic growers and nurserymen over the Atlantic in particular. Among the seemingly endless procession of new registrations some taxa inevitably turn out to be disappointing. Names such as 'Ultimate Yellow' do not help either.
The
craze in 2002 was for Magnolia 'Sunburst'
('Woodsman' x 'Goldstar') which has flower buds of an intense
green, but the flowers emerge with the leaves, and while being
a good yellow - the photograph is with RHS card 16 - the flowers
are not overlarge.
The clear conclusion today is that it is still too early to be definite about what are the best yellow magnolias, but there are a few that are excellent in British conditions. What follows, therefore, is a subjective assessment of what is both good and available, and an 'ultimate' recommendation as to what to do next!
How good are they?
Of
course the yellow colour comes from the species M.
acuminata and its variety subcordata,
the latter being yellower and of more compact habit. Indeed,
for those who want a good subcordata
'Miss Honeybee' is excellent flowering in spring and often
again in autumn. The flowers are the same colour as 'Butterflies',
and not much smaller. They are sometimes hidden in the foliage
but the overall effect is good. There are reputedly even better
forms of subcordata available in the
USA.
It should be remembered that in the USA the hybridisation programme to give yellows has had hardiness in view as well as flower colour and size, so most of the yellow taxa flower later than M. denudata and may be more frost resistant.
In
the 1981/2 Yearbook Phil Savage introduced 'Elizabeth'
as a precocious yellow magnolia, and the photographs in the
1984/5 Yearbook show a flower of a darker shade than
'Yellow Bir'd. Photographs can be so misleading! The temptation
to publish the best photograph taken under the best possible
lighting conditions is irresistible. Though understandable,
this is unfortunate, as in the UK at least 'Elizabeth' is
not yellow, and the flowers fade as they open. However this
is a wonderful magnolia, with flowers having beautiful shades
of cream throughout their life. It forms a shapely tree and
has reached a height of 7m after 15 years at Hindleap. I recommend
it to all as a thoroughly first class garden plant.
'Yellow Bird' has flowers with only six tepals of a greeny
yellow, and, unlike the other brooklynensis
hybrids the flowers open just as the leaves are unfolding
- the others flower with the leaves already completely open.
It is a small tree - slow growing with me - and will appeal
to those who like the flower colour, which is s good greeny
yellow. The tree looks appealing when in flower with the foliage
as a background to the yellow. A fine but not outstanding
variety.
The
photograph of 'Butterflies' in the 1991 Yearbook
is mouth-watering, and 'Butterflies' is still one of the top
three most popular magnolias in the USA. Here it has been
disappointing. The flowers are small and, though a good yellow,
don't have the substance or poise of 'Elizabeth' or M.
denudata. The problem has been made worse because there
appear to be two clones in circulation in this country, one
with smaller and more strap like tepals - quite nice but nothing
like the 1991 photograph. This may be Magnolia
'Stellar Acclaim'. My unhelpful advice is not to purchase
'Butterflies' without having seen it, and preferably the plant
you are getting, in flower, and you may then not buy it at
all.
'Sundance' is a pleasant cream with, according to the literature, large flowers. It is said to be floriferous, but the plant I purchased 10 years ago as 'Sundance' still hasn’t flowered, so I cannot make a fair judgement.
'Yellow Fever' has attractive flowers of a similar shade to, but smaller than, 'Elizabeth', but with a pink tinge externally. It is a vigorous upright tree in John Hilliard’s garden in Crawley. A nice plant with flowers of a reasonable size.
'Yellow Lantern' is another pale yellow, the flowers appearing with the leaves. It seems to be fast growing when young, though it is said to form only a small tree. It certainly has the advantage of being fastigiate, and will surely find a place in many gardens for this alone.
'Goldstar'
is different, being an M. acuminata
crossed with M. stellata. It has cream
flowers of the stellata shape and size
and with 14 tepals. It has excellent reddish young foliage
but should not be expected to stay as small a plant as the
average M. stellata: the plant at Wisley
is a small tree growing half a metre each year.
All of the above are available from at least three suppliers in the current RHS Plant Finder. If I could have only one it would still be 'Elizabeth'.
Now to the less available but desirable, and a few newcomers.
'Lois' is a backcross of an 'Elizabeth' sister seedling with M. acuminata. It was spotted by Maurice Foster in the annex to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, introduced to Europe by him, and is now becoming available here. It is intermediate between 'Elizabeth' and 'Butterflies' in flower colour and size, and being truly precocious in its flowering is probably the closest approach yet to the ideal of a yellow denudata type magnolia. Highly recommended.
The appeal of the other brooklynensis hybrids is highly subjective - I like 'Eva Maria' with its curious mixture of yellow pink and purple in the flowers, and it flowers over a long period. 'Hattie Carthan' is similar but with yellow flowers, and has occasional flowers throughout the summer. 'Woodsman' is dark purple in bud with yellow and pink shades when fully open, and it is floriferous - one either likes or hates it. They are occasionally available, but don't buy without having seen the variety in flower somewhere first.
Magnolia
'Honey Liz'
Image by Philippe de Spoelberch
Magnolia
'Daphne'
Image by Philippe de Spoelberch
Magnolia
'Sunsation'
Image by Luc de Jonge
Of more recent development are varieties trialled at Herkenrode in Belgium by Philippe de Spoelberch. Of these 'Honey Liz', 'Daphne' and 'Banana Split' look exciting, and the Americans are very keen on 'Sunsation', which certainly has a large flower equal in size to anything in the soulangeana range, but all these need to be proved in UK conditions.
Gardeners are very lucky to be able to anticipate developments in magnolias almost as exciting as when they first became generally available in the 19th century. Watch and wait with eager anticipation.
If you're interested in magnolias you might like to join the RHS Rhodendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group.