What's Hot Now: Deciduous Magnolias

Magnolia stellata

One of my fondest memories of attending The University of Texas at Austin happened on the north mall, in the shadow of the Tower.  On this mall was an ancient Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora).  It's glossy green leaves and giant white blooms swayed gently in the breeze while I stared up at it, laying on the grass, rather than reading my Constitutional Law homework.

So imagine my surprise when I moved to Oregon and learned that magnolias could be deciduous.  And that they didn't have to be 40' tall and 80' wide.  Two of the loveliest trees of spring are Magnolia x soulangiana or Saucer Magnolia and Magnolia stellata or Star Magnolia.  Though both are deciduous magnolias and can grow into large, handsome trees, their blooms are quite distinct.

Star magnolia blooms are generally white and strappy, meaning that their petals are much longer than they are wider and they tend to open in haphazard shapes, rather than unfurling in a tidy shape.  I have seen some varieties that have pink blooms, though I suspect this is a recent variety.  I've only seen small trees with the pink blooms.

From onlineplantguide.com

Saucer magnolia normally has soft pink blooms with tinges of stronger pink.  The petals are heavier and waxier, such as you'd find on a Southern Magnolia, but significantly smaller.  Sadly, I didn't get a photo of a saucer magnolia in full, glorious bloom.  This spring, my children became accustomed to me pulling the car over suddenly to exclaim about various plants and take photos like some stalker.  Yet in all my stalking, so photos of saucer magnolias.

For spring blooming trees, it's hard to beat the deciduous magnolias.