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 and early summer; has attractive, glossy leaves and a compact, mounded habit of growth

Ornamental Features

Snowbird Magnolia is smothered in stunning fragrant creamy white cup-shaped flowers with tan anthers held atop the branches from mid spring to early summer, which emerge from distinctive brick red flower buds. It has attractive dark green evergreen foliage. The glossy pointy leaves are highly ornamental and turn coppery-bronze in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. The fruits are showy red pods displayed from early to late fall.

Landscape Attributes

Snowbird Magnolia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a mounded 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.

Snowbird Magnolia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Snowbird Magnolia will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy, 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.