Of all the hardy flowering trees and shrubs, magnolias, with their large waxy blooms, are perhaps the most spectacular. But as gardens get ever smaller, many of us struggle to fit these delightful plants into our plots. Drive down any suburban street in the UK and the chances are you’ll see a Magnolia × soulangeana hacked into an unhappy blob, displaying none of its natural grace and form.
Luckily, there are a number of varieties that can be accommodated into small gardens, with flowering times over the year. Plus, many in this selection are among the least fussy of the magnolias, growing well in gardens from the north to the south.
Magnolia flowers cannot be ignored, especially in spring when the garden is beginning to stir. The candy-pink blooms of Deciduous refers to plants (mainly trees and shrubs) that lose their leaves seasonally, usually during autumn. This is a natural process triggered by the season's shorter days and lower temperatures and allows plants to conserve energy during the winter months.
Magnolia stellata is one of the best for really small gardens. As the name suggests, it has star-shaped flowers, formed of strap-shaped petals. Plants are bushy and will grow slowly up to about 3m (10ft) tall. The cultivars ‘Centennial’ (pictured) and ‘Jane Platt’ both have an AGM. The latter is free-flowering with beautiful, soft pink flowers.
One of the benefits of a smaller magnolia is being able to get up close and inspect the blooms, especially when they are scented. Profuse-flowering and perfumed M. × loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’ AGM (pictured) has delicate light pink flowers which open before the leaves. M. sieboldii ‘Colossus’ AGM is a slow-growing shrub with highly fragrant, white flowers up to 15cm (6in) across, borne in late spring and early summer. Its ultimate height and spread is rarely more than 3m (10ft).
If you’re taken with the timeless elegance of Magnolia grandiflora, M. laevifolia ‘Gail's Favourite’ has been likened to a miniature form. With small, shiny green leaves, its rusty-red, hairy A bud is a small, undeveloped shoot that contains the potential for new growth. Buds are typically found on stems, where they can be apical (found at the tip) or axillary (found between leaf axils) and may develop into leaves, shoots or flowers.
It is no surprise that the deciduous, M. liliiflora ‘Nigra’ AGM is one of the most commonly grown cultivars. Introduced from Japan in 1861, it bears upright, tulip-shaped flowers primarily in June, then sporadically for the rest of the summer. Blooms are almost maroon in colour with an inside of delicate pink veins. It will grow to 3m (10ft) in height, but will only spread 3m (10ft), making it an ideal focal point.
