Botanical family: Magnoliaceae

Liriodendron tulipifera

USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map

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Yellow-poplar has a singly occurring, perfect flower 2-3" wide, with six petals varying in color from a light yellowish green at the margin to a deep orange band at the center. Flowers are tulip-shaped, upright blossoms. Yellow-poplars are long-lived plants, producing flowers for 200 years. Open-grown trees have a pyramidal crown when young, becoming oval in shape with time.

Magnolia 'Goldstar'

It is an upright, deciduous, large evergreen shrub or small tree to 5-20 ft tall and wide. It should be planted in full sun and is hardy in USDA Zone 5-9, making it a great choice for gardeners in many parts of the country.

Magnolia 'Goldstar' prefers regular water, but is tolerant of occasional dry spells. Plants grown in containers will require more frequent watering than plants grown in the ground. This magnolia will attract hummingbirds, butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. To keep the plant looking its best, trim the flowers and dead head after blooming. Prune in spring to shape the plant and remove any undesirable branches.

This beautiful plant is cold hardy at least to the low 30s F for a short time. In cold climates, plants grown in containers should be brought indoors in winter or taken to a protected area such as a greenhouse. Plants grown in the ground may need protection depending on the severity of the winter. Mulch and shelter from cold winds can help protect the roots from frost.

Magnolia 'Goldstar' has been a favorite of gardeners for generations, and with good reason. Its bold yellow and white flowers, fast growth, and hardiness make it a great addition to just about any garden. With the proper care and protection, it will continue to delight gardeners for years to come.

Magnolia acuminata

This small to medium-sized deciduous tree native to North America grows 10-20 ft tall and wide, with an upright oval canopy. The leaves are shiny dark green with whitish undersides and contrasting yellow fall foliage. The name Cucumber Tree refers to the unripe fruit, which is green and often shaped like a small cucumber.

It has scented rabbit-like white to off-white flowers in late spring and sometimes again in fall. Small yellow and orange fruit adorn the tree in summer. The tree requires full sun and semi-shade and moderate watering, either equally distributed throughout the season or more frequent during dry periods. With regular water and good drainage, it will grow in fertile, evenly moist, slightly acid soils.

For colder regions, this tree can be grown in a pot. It is recommended that the roots are kept covered and insulated from the cold with plenty of good quality compost, and the pot should be placed in a sheltered, sunny spot during the winter. USDA Zone for this tree is 4-8.

This is an ideal tree for lawn or garden, providing interest all year round. The cucumber fruits are inedible but attract birds, squirrels and other wildlife when ripe. Magnolia acuminata is a popular ornamental that can brighten any yet and make a great feature tree in the garden.

Magnolia champaca, Michelia champaca

The flowers from this tree are used to make the world's most expensive perfume 'Joy'. The extremely aromatic orange blooms appear nearly all year round. Grows to the size of a large shrub or small tree, 15-20' in height. It is a tropical tree, however established plants can tolerate light freeze. Yellow Champaca is much more cold tolerant than var. Alba.

People did not invent JOY perfume, Nature made this creation leading to the development of JOY, the most expensive perfume fragrance in the world. Michelia flowers produce in great quantities. On a warm humid night, the scents can easily be enjoyed several hundred feet away. If you drive near by, you will notice the scent immediately. People and every insect you can imagine are attracted to the blooms. These are flowers you don't have to "stick your nose in" as the scent exudes from the tree. However, you really can't STOP sticking your nose into a flower over and over again. Nectar insects appear frantic, driven like drug addicts, bashing into each other to get to the heart of every flower on the tree. Planting a Michelia tree either indoors as bonsai or in your backyard really makes your home a sweet home. Also you could take the flower, home made natural perfume, into car, office, rest room, and anywhere you want fragrant atmosphere. One oriental custom is to use the white flowers as sweet scented decoration, such as hair-pin-flower for girls, and chest-pin-flower for ladies. The tree has flowers and green leaves all year round, beautifying its surroundings. Besides, the clearly veined leaf can be made into a special bookmark. M. Champaka are much more hardier plants than M. Alba and the flower has a sweet fragnance. The M. Alba has root stock of champaka. If you will but forth the effort in taken care of the plant, you will be rewarded many times over via the fragrance. The smell is heavenly.

See Article about Tropical Magnolias.

See also Plants with scents as heady as incense: Enchanted Magnolias - Joy in your life...

...Regarded as one of the most sacred trees of India and tropical Asia... Its flowers exude a divine fragrance that is exceedingly pleasing to the Gods... and women! See article about Champaka.

Magnolia coco, Liriodendron coco, Magnolia pumila

Magnolia coco was introduced into England in 1786 by Lady Amelia Hume. It has not proven hardy enough to widespread cultivation. The flowers are small and very fragrant. They usually last only a day and open in the evening, the tepals falling by morning. This species is a good houseplant, the most suitable magnolia for indoors, thanks to its small size and slow growth rate. Its long flowering period provides indoor fragrance and color about nine months of a year. Most of magnolias lack nectaries, but the Magnolia coco is a nice exception. It secrets a nectar-like substance at the base of the tepals and between the stigmas. Indoors it can be grown as a small house plant in a pot where it gets only 2-3 ft tall and blooms in young age. In habitat it ts a woody medium size shrub, 3-6ft. Flowers come in single, rounded as an egg before opening, 1-2" diameter with white petals and green sepal, intensely fragrant. Ideal for patios and small gardens. Fragrance is outstanding especially in early morning. Blooms from spring to fall. This plant grows better with less direct sunlight on lowlands. Requires regular watering in container. Can be grown indoors in a well-lit spot. Other names used incorrectly for this plant are Michelia coco and Michelia pumila, but this is a true magnolia. The blooms are at the ends of the branches, rather than from the leaf axils as they are in the Michelia group. M. lilliifera is similar to M. coco - as both species have those egg shaped flowerbuds. In M. coco however, the bud is shaped more like a baby coconut, hence the name Magnolia coco, Coconut Magnolia. Hardy to zones 9-10. This is a tropical plant. Min temp 45-50F, but it can survive light frost with some leaves damage (they get dry on edges from cold). If you want to have this plant nice looking year round, it is better to protect it - move inside while cold nights or weeks. It is easy since it is a dwarf plant and can be grown in a pot. However if you planted it in ground, it will be OK during mild winter, and new leaves will grow in spring. Does not require pruning since it is slow growing and has naturally bushy shape. Fertilize nce a month with bloom booster fertilizer during hot months. No pests noticed.

See Article about Tropical Magnolias.

See also Plants with scents as heady as incense: Enchanted Magnolias - Joy in your life...

Magnolia cylindrica

The Huang-shan magnolia, also known as Magnolia Cylindrica, is an attractive and hardy plant that can grow into a moderately large shrub or a small tree, reaching heights of 5-10 ft and 10-20 ft, respectively. The plant thrives in full sun or semi-shade and requires regular, but moderate watering. Its flowers are large, fragrant, and white or off-white in color.

While the Huang-shan magnolia can be grown in USDA zones 7-10 with little effort, it is worth noting that in colder regions, it is best to grow it in a pot to have more control over the temperature. In this case, the plant should be kept in a pot with near-neutral soil and placed indoors during winter. Regular watering and fertilizing are also essential when the plant is grown in a pot.

Endemic to China, the Huang-shan magnolia is named after Mount Huang, where it can be found growing naturally. Sadly, this plant is threatened by habitat loss. It is a deciduous shrub or small tree with thin, lanceolate, dark green leaves. The cup-shaped flowers are pure white and fragrant, and they appear before the young leaves in early spring. The plant produces cylindrical-shaped fruits. The flowering period is typically from March to April, although some species may bloom as late as September.

Magnolia delavayi

It is a small evergreen tree with fragrant, cup-shaped, creamy white to pink flowers.

See Article about Tropical Magnolias.

Magnolia dianica

Similar looking species - Magnolia yunnanensis, Michelia yunnanensis, Parakmeria yunnanensis. See Article about Tropical Magnolias.

See also Plants with scents as heady as incense: Enchanted Magnolias - Joy in your life...

Magnolia doltsopa, Michelia excelsa, Magnolia exelsa

Showy flowers are wonderfully fragrant and long-lasting.

Prefers partial shade or partial sun to full sun; soil should be moist. Needs extra water in hot or windy conditions or sandy soil. Does not tolerate wind.

See also Plants with scents as heady as incense: Enchanted Magnolias - Joy in your life...

Magnolia figo, Michelia figo, Magnolia fuscata

A slow growing, compact shrub. It bears small, shiny deep green leaves and tiny spring-blooming heavily scented cream flowers streaked with purple. Pruning produces abundant new flowering growth. Prefers neutral to acid, humus-rich, well-drained soil; they resent being transplanted. The banana shrub is so called because of the distinctive, sweet banana scent of its flowers. These are formed within interesting fuzzy brown bracts that form a 1 in (2.5 cm) cigar-shaped bud, from which small off-white flowers burst forth from late spring through summer. The blossoms are about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) in diameter with each of six waxy petals delicately outlined in dark red.

See Article about Tropical Magnolias.

See also Plants with scents as heady as incense: Enchanted Magnolias - Joy in your life...