Other Names:  Magnolia yunnanensis, Magnolia dianica

Description:

This beautiful evergreen variety makes a great accent, smothered in showy and fragrant white cup-shaped flowers in spring; attractive, small, glossy leaves with brown undersides, and a compact, upright habit of growth

Ornamental Features

Gail's Favorite Magnolia is smothered in stunning fragrant white cup-shaped flowers with tan anthers held atop the branches from mid to late spring, which emerge from distinctive brick red flower buds. It has attractive dark green foliage with brown undersides. The small glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn coppery-bronze in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. The fruits are showy dark red pods with pink overtones, which are displayed from early to late fall.

Landscape Attributes

Gail's Favorite Magnolia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Gail's Favorite Magnolia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Gail's Favorite Magnolia will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.