Magnolia

I live in Ohio and we're known as the Buckeye State for the type of trees that use to be common here. I look around my county today and see very few Buckeye Trees.  In our neighborhood, I only know of one. Here, Walnut Trees seem to have replaced the Buckeye and there are quite a few Magnolia's here too.

Every spring,  I wander through our gardens to the back flower bed. To the right I see  a large old Walnut Tree. It's stately in its own right but has received a lot of damage from gusty wind storms.  When I look to the left corner of the flower bed, I see a young Magnolia covered with  fat, fuzzy buds.

Although,  I love the old Walnut Tree and the nut it produces, I must say that for elegance and grace, I admire our Magnolia x soulangeana. In early spring the fat, fuzzy buds open to a blossom (tepal) that is pointing towards the sky. As the days pass, it opens more and takes on a tulip-like appearance. Soon it will open further to a saucer shape bloom the size of a small dinner plate.

 

The saucer magnolia is one of the hardiest species and does well in our cold Ohio winters. Although my young saucer magnolia stills looks like a shrub along side the tall Walnut Tree, I hope one day it will mature with an equal spread. 

Lori Shriver

All material © 2014-2015 Lori Shriver