Do you remember the first time you saw a magnolia in bloom? I do, although at the time I mistakenly thought it was something else. It was in May 1980, and I had just moved to the Annapolis Valley, in Nova Scotia. Some friends and I were going to Wolfville, when this marvellous tree, utterly covered in pinkish-white blooms, caught my eye.

Do you remember the first time you saw a magnolia in bloom?

I do, although at the time I mistakenly thought it was something else. It was in May 1980, and I had just moved to the Annapolis Valley, in Nova Scotia. Some friends and I were going to Wolfville, when this marvellous tree, utterly covered in pinkish-white blooms, caught my eye.

One of my friends called it a tulip tree (Liriodendron), and while she had the right family, she had the wrong species. It wasn’t until several years later, when I had become more interested in growing ornamental plants than in food crops, that I learned that the tree that had caught my eye was a magnolia.

It took nearly 20 years for me to become confident enough in my gardening abilities and in my garden’s habitat to actually plant one, and then another, and then….

For some gardeners, the mention of magnolias invokes the Southern US, plantations and mint juleps. However, I think of one particular person, and one particular community, when I look at my magnolias. The person is my mentor, the late, lamented Captain Richard (Dick) Steele, who grew a profusion of magnolias at his Bayport Plant Farm near Lunenburg, NS. It was Dick Steele who first waxed lyrical to me on the qualities of magnolias, and who convinced me that I could grow at least one type of this elegant tree. And the community that further enhanced my growing obsession with magnolias is Annapolis Royal, NS, with an excellent magnolia collection. (See “Gardens to Generate Tourism,” page 80.)

Top qualities

Robert Baldwin, horticulturist and nursery owner in Falmouth, NS, ticks

off the top qualities of magnolias on his fingers as we stand admiring the fat furry buds on some of his different species. “Many of them bloom before they leaf out, so we get this wonderful show when we need it most! Most are small trees so they can be planted in front yards under power lines. They are relatively deer and pest resistant. And the flowers....”

Oh yes, the flowers. They can range from dainty, soft yellow blossoms, the size of a small butterfly, like the aptly named ‘Butterflies,’ to the magnificent and massive flowers of the summer-flowering Siebold’s magnolia, M. sieboldii. They come in pristine white, shades of pink and magenta, and pale to rich yellows. All are scented, although the fragrance and concentration of scent varies with species and time of day.

Once you’ve stood by a magnolia and smelled its heady, lemony fragrance, you are smitten. Forever.

The scent can be intoxicating, or muted. I often can’t smell my star magnolia (Magnolia stellata ‘Royal Star’) but that’s usually because the wind is blowing here in my Bay of Fundy-facing garden. If I go out early in the morning or evening and the gales have quieted, the lemony fragrance is enough to make me as happy as an intoxicated beetle.

Despite their sophisticated looking flowers, magnolias are actually quite primitive in origin and structure. Fossilized remains of magnolias and related plants dating back 100 million years have been recorded, meaning these plants grew when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.

What we commonly refer to as petals on the magnolia flower are actually tepals, which are a combination of sepals, the protective outermost parts of a flower, and petals. The central parts of the flower, which are the male and female sexual organs, are sturdier than those of many flowering plants given the plant existed before bees were on the scene; they were originally pollinated only by beetles, which tend to be heavier and clumsier around flowers than their gracefully hovering cousins.

Seasonal attire

More and more gardeners are selecting plants that have more than one season of interest, and magnolias fill the bill nicely in this respect. In winter, the tree’s structure is accented by perules, which are the striking silver, furry protective coverings on the flower buds. Depending on the species and weather conditions, magnolias can flower from late April well into June; some species and cultivars are repeat bloomers.

If you’re lucky and the beetles have done their pollinating job, you will have curious-looking red, drooping fruit hanging on your tree from late summer through autumn, unless of course squirrels or other marauders carry them off.

The foliage of magnolias is a bright green, often quite glossy on the top surface. While there are evergreen magnolias, there’s only one species I know of that will grow in our region, Magnolia grandiflora—and even then it is limited to the warmest areas of Atlantic Canada. If it did tough out the weather on my windy mountain hilltop, I’d be very surprised if it bloomed.

If you were to look up magnolia taxonomy online or in the horticulturist’s bible, Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs—the only such plant book I know of that is worthy of the term encyclopedia, and I highly recommended it to anyone who is addicted to woody plants—you would probably need a nap after reading the tangled taxonomic history of this genus. Suffice it to say that there are a number of species, cultivars and hybrids available, with more being added each year, and there are a generous number that will grow throughout much of Atlantic Canada.

The all-important caveat is that you need to be sure of your hardiness zone—in part based on minimum winter temperatures—and to meet their cultural requirements.

How to keep plants happy

Magnolias thrive in full sun to partial shade in rich, loamy soil. Because they need consistent moisture and will sulk if allowed to dry out, they are quite tolerant of clay soil providing there is plenty of organic matter incorporated to enrich it. If your soil tends to dry out in summer, add a generous amount of mulch around the roots to keep them cool and soil moist.

Magnolias will tolerate some salt spray from the seashore but they do not like salt around their root systems, so don’t plant one near a walkway or roadside where it’s apt to be splashed by road salt.

Cold winds in later spring can damage the flower buds, causing burnt tepals or even keeping flowers from opening. This is where choosing the right species and cultivar is important. In recent years, some of the hardier yellow varieties are the result of hybridizing the cucumbertree magnolia, M. acuminata, which is said to be the hardiest if not the showiest magnolia, with other species.

Because my late beloved spouse also loved magnolias, this is the year I will plant a host of new species, particularly a yellow-flowered magnolia, in my garden. Just to remember.