Magnolias (Can’t Be Real)

Sometimes I look at a flowering magnolia and can’t believe it is hardy enough to grow here.  I mean really, something that beautiful can grow…here! As a kid the neighbor lady down the road had an old saucer magnolia; the magnolia the average customer refers to in the description (“ya know- the tulip tree”), that magnolia marked spring for us, neighborhood kids. It meant little league, riding your bike, and late nights. The tree marked an end to winter.

Flash forward a few decades and armed with solid horticultural advice, I never hesitate to recommend the tree. From small, little ornamental shrub-like magnolias to something that can become a huge shade tree, magnolias are up to the task.

I still dearly love to see a magnolia flowering in spring. There are a few trees I can honestly say that to witness them in their prime, in their season and all their grandeur is to see heaven on earth. Magnolia is on that list. -Joel