Southern Magnolia

(Photo courtesy DavetheMage, via Wikimedia Commons)

Around here, the Southern Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) are blooming and I am thoroughly enjoying their huge, fragrant flowers.  I don't have a magnolia tree, you see, so I don't have to worry about leaf drop, beetles, scale, algal spot, root rot, etc.  Magnolias are large-leafed, evergreen trees that are the very symbol of the South.  Though they bloom best in full sun, they create their own deep, dark shade:  hardly anything will grow underneath them.  Truth be told, they look best (to me, at least) with nothing at all planted below.  These trees are very large -- up to 90 feet tall.  Even the dwarfs, like 'Little Gem,' can reach a mature height of 20 feet.  But it's a slow grower, so I think people plant them, assuming they won't be living in that house, when their ornamental shrub reaches the top of the roof.

(Photo courtesy Vilallonga, courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Did you know that the largest Southern Magnolia in Montgomery County is in the Spring Trails development?  The largest Southern Magnolia in Texas graces Smith County, but it's only 66 feet tall.  The National Champion Southern Magnolia, in Smith County, Mississippi, is 122 feet tall!