Question on Magnolia 'Little Girl Series'
benjaminxxl
15 years ago
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Comments (16)
Embothrium
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agoRelated Discussions
What to plant: Magnolia or Ginkgo?
Comments (16)The deciduous magnolias do come in a number of different cultivars, with varying mature heights and varying shapes. I have a 'Jane' (I think, the tag is long gone), one of the Little Girl series, which after 5 years in the ground, from a 1-gal. pot, in very good, built up soil in a flower bed, well watered, etc., is now about 10-12 feet tall and maybe 5-6 feet wide. It has a heavy crop of dark purple-y flowers in spring (now) before the leaves, and sporadic flowers throughout the summer. I THINK it is supposed to mature at less than 20 feet, but will have to wait and see. I have another of the series, possibly 'Jacky'?, which stayed in its pot for another year, and is planted in relatively unimproved clay with less watering. It is about 5 feet tall, 3-4 feet wide, with pale pinker flowers, only in the spring so far. A friend has another one (unknown variety and age) which is probably 15-20 feet high and about the same wide, with pale pink flowers. So if Marystem looks carefully, she can select the shape and size of magnolia that will fit her planned spot. But, I agree with Picea that the magnolia foliage may not stand out too well, since the deciduous foliage, in my experience, tends not to be as shiny as the evergreen ones. I am not sure a gingko is the best alternative, as the ones I have seen as youg trees are not overly attractive; in fact I think calling them gangly is being kind. Since 3 of them are growing for me, I am not against them, just saying they take a while to become attractive. But, mine are of unknown parentage, just generic gingkos, so some of the selected cultivars may be very good, even at a young age. Certainly, the fall foliage should be spectacular against the oaks! However, as far as the eventual height goes, unless there are shorter cultivars of gingko, I would be reluctant to plant anything that I KNEW would be too big. Eventually SOMEONE will have to deal with it, even if it's the next owner of the property. There must be some species/variety of tree that will grow sufficiently fast to make a statement in a reasonable length of time, without coninuing to grow beyond the desired height. I admit to being slightly inconsistent in this, as I am quite happy to plant short lived things like dogwoods, and not be too upset at the idea that I will have to take them out in 20-30 years for reasons of old age, but it really bothers me to think of taking out a perfectly healthy tree, just because it has now grown too tall for where it was planted, when I KNOW I will have to do this. And I get even MORE bothered at the idea that someone would then top a tree because it is too big! Just a personal idiosyncracy......See MoreJane Saucer Magnolia Help
Comments (14)It doesn't look grafted at all, was probably grown from a cutting. The usual interest in sucker removal is to prevent rootstock sprouts from replacing the variety grafted on top. Or when a specimen is bought as a standard and sprouts below the top of the lollipop - whether from a rootstock or interstem, or actually from the same plant that makes up the ball head - would eliminate the lollipop shape. (Standards can be produced by either training up a single stem of a rootstock or interstock and then grafting a scion on top or by training up a single stem of the same variety that would otherwise be such a scion, letting it branch at the desired height). Especially if you are not a pruning and training wizard your plant is really too advanced at this point to try and develop it into a single-trunked specimen with an elevated head. If that is what you want it would be better to start over with a small (as in one gallon pot size or even smaller) example that has not forked into several more or less equivalently sized main stems, tie the biggest one to a secure stake, - that will last the required number of years - and develop that into a dominant main trunk. Or choose another of the many magnolia cultivars on the market that tends to produce a tree shape, is often sold with a single trunk already having formed on its own or having been developed by a grower. 'Galaxy' is a single-stemmed, tree-form magnolia with ascending branches, the perfect shape for narrow planting sites Here is a link that might be useful: The National Arboretum presents Magnolia 'Galaxy', unique in form and flower among cultivated magnolias This post was edited by bboy on Mon, Dec 22, 14 at 13:10...See MoreMagnolias
Comments (16)I grew up in Cleveland, similar in climate to Detroit, and now live in NH. Based on my experience with Magnolias, I would suggest that you look into either the Magnolia x loebneri hybrids or the Girls hybrids (Jane, Ann, Ricki, Susan, etc.) bred at the National Arboretum. IME the saucer magnolias (M. x soulangeana) will periodically get hit by frost since they are so early. Even here on the northern edge of zone 5, that isn't usually an issue with the x loebneri Magnolias. I also think that the M. stellata selections should be fine. All bloom later than M x soulangeana and so are less likely to end up as brown mush due to frost. Here are some resources I often use for research on woody plants: Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder is the most comprehensive I've found, allows you to either type in just the plant name or to select certain characteristics you are looking for such as height, fall color, evergreen, flowers, etc. When I put in Magnolia, I got a list of 56 plants back, and you can click on any of them to get a full page about it. I like that they often comment on issues such as frost or drought tolerance or disease resistance, and IME their size estimates are reasonable, though their cold tolerance/zone can be off a little bit for me since my growing conditions are so different. UConn Plant Database isn't nearly as complete in info as MOBOT but is another resource I've found to have reliable info. I use the online search option for Arnoldia, the publication of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston for another source that's relatively local to my area. Great Plant Picks is geared toward the Northwest US, but if the plant is hardy for me, I often find the info there useful. If a plant has been give a Cary Award, I often find the listing useful to read, particularly since it is geared towards my part of the country. Likewise, I find that if Louis the Plant Geek has reviewed a plant, it is worth reading about it. If a plant has been written about at Paghat's Garden, it's worth reading even though the author is in the Pacific NW, zone 8. Finally, I really enjoy perusing the books of Michael Dirr, a professor emeritus from the Dept of Horticulture, U of GA. I find his writing both opinionated and entertaining, though I don't always agree with him, and since he lived in the midwest for a while, his experience will apply to your area. My favorite is the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, which though expensive will be useful if you want to research more than one kind of plant. I really like wandering through it and it has introduced me to many wonderful plants. If I want to see color photos of a plant in MWLP, I use a web search. He has also published books on Hydrangeas as well as more accessible, less technical books with color photos on woody landscape plants north and south that you might find at a library. I think there's also a related app....See MoreMagnolia little girl e.g., Judy light requirements
Comments (1)Density of growth may be affected by the shading. Also you might get more frost damage to the flowers because of the morning sun striking them....See Morebenjaminxxl
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agobenjaminxxl
15 years agomainegrower
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agobenjaminxxl
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agobenjaminxxl
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agomainegrower
15 years agoEmbothrium
15 years agoneil09
14 years agojarora
3 years ago
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davidrt28 (zone 7)