For a 'Michelia' you don't have much of a choice between M. x alba, champaca and figo because they are generally the most easy to find of Michelias. The others are more difficult to obtain. Of the three, I believe most people would prefer M. x alba for it's heavenly scent, it has the potential to bloom more often. Does fine in a pot, can bloom indoors in proliferation. Flowers last for several days and are good for picking. But still, it can also be out of blooms for a few months especially if it isn't liking the weather. M. figo flowers fall apart easily, aren't really good for picking. Scent is very nice and noticeable during certain parts of the day only. M. champaca is hard to find blooming size plants and generally doesn't bloom as often as Michelia alba in most cases. Can't comment on the scent as my 6 foot plant that I have potted for almost 2 years already hasn't bloomed yet. The other Michelia species, such as maudiae, doltsopa, yunnanensis (Magnolia dianica) are very difficult to find across most of America and even in mail-order. To get to blooming size might possibly take several years of being planted in the ground and I don't think are hardy in your zone outdoors. There is another former Michelia that is perfect for pot culture inside the home. Loves low light. It blooms even when the plant is small too. That is Michelia pumila (now known, like the other Michelias, as Magnolia coco). Good luck finding that. While flowers last only a day, they are among the most strongly scented. :) Plantogram.com has Michelia alba. As does T0ptropicals. You can also find it on eBay or Amazon.

You're right... never use chunky. Always go for light and fluffy. Perfect homemade mix: 1/3 blended compost 1/3 peat moss 1/3 coarse vermiculite Examples Page 1 Examples Page 2 Examples Page 3 Examples Page 4 Examples Page 5 Scroll down here, there is a TON of info. Container Gardening Medium

I think that's so beautiful you want to make these memories for your child! Knowing my own decorating and reading the above responses I see a common thread of choosing which holidays and how to decorate coming about organically. Like your child will be making decorations in preschool, and now that you've decided you want to do this your eye will start noticing others' (inc. shops') decorations and what appeals to you. This forum has also really helped me with SUPER ideas about decorating. Like a few years ago kswl had that incredible slideshow of her home at xmas and I fell so hard head over heels ... it totally inspired my nutcrackers (for xmas). And another generous participant posted her beautiful gumdrop tree (again for xmas) which got me going in that candy direction, and I'll tell you I RAN with it! I don't even like (to eat) candy yet I've found it the most magical, perfect way of decorating the trees. Thank you GW! So we're multiethnic (I'm 1/2 Jewish, 1/2 WASP and my partner is 100% Shinto Buddhist Japanese) and we have fun with it. I love love love our Hanukkah waterglobe collection and growing collection of dreidels. I love all the koinobori (carp windsocks) we have for Children's Day (May 5th). I find that for many holidays my decorating effort extends to color-appropriate candies in the living room -- like red & silver kisses for Valentine's, pastel pastilles for Easter. I am NOT a jingoist but I do love red white & blue bunting on the 4th ... on other people's houses. I'm not that motivated, I guess, although this year we did line our front walk with stars and stripes pinwheels. That was fun and made me really part of our sweet little town's festivities. We have Japanese lanterns up in the backyard so they're already handy for Obondori (another Japanese celebration honoring your ancestors), and then because I am a wannabe Mexican I have tons of fun with Halloween and my calaveras / catrinas. My 6 y.o. is *delighted* with the enormous fuzzy tarantula we affix to the outside of his window each year -- the kids love it. This year I went bananas at Target and purchased a string of jack o lantern lights and put them in a tree, and then a cobweb made of orange lights which we plastered on the living room window. I'm not sure who loved all this new stuff more: my 6 y.o. or me. (me)

They really are very similar. On my monitor, the one on the left has a bit more warmth to it, which I prefer, but that is personal preference and also depends on which works better in your house and your lighting.