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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
About Magnolia
Magnolia gives it's name to the family Magnoliaceae, and the name commemorates a French botanist, Pierre Magnol, Professor of Botany and Director of the Botanic Gardens, Montpelier, during the latter part of the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth centuries (1638 - 1715).
Magnolias thrive in fairly rich, moist, peaty or sandy loam, but can grow satisfactorily in any garden soil.
Most magnolias are grown from seeds, from cuttings, by grafting and by layering. Rare kinds are sometimes propagated by grafting in winter or spring in a greenhouse. The period between sowing of the seed and germination may be as long as 18 months. Magnolia Grandiflora grown from seed may take from 15 - 20 years to produce a blossom. Because of pollination, the blossoms may not be exactly like the parent plant.
Trees that are grafted bloom much sooner.
Seeds should be sown in a fresh state, and not allowed to dry out. Remove the seeds just before the pod bursts open or immediately after.
Remove the red-orange coating. This can be done more easily if you soak them in water for a few days.
Squeeze out the hard, black seed and wash them in dishwashing liquid to remove the oily coating that prevents them from absorbing moisture.
Sow in a light compost of two parts peat, one part loam and one part sand. Don't let the seeds dry out. Cover with 1/2" of compost. Cover the tray or pot to maintain moisture and protect the seed. They should germinate in about four weeks. Pot them after about four weeks, making sure the roots don't dry out.
In colder climates, you may not be able to pot them outside. Place the seeds in a bag containing a damp, sterile medium such as peat or grit, seal and label and put in the refrigerator at about 40 º. In February, sow the seeds under glass at temperatures of 64-68 º.
With one or two exceptions, the Magnolias are not well adapted for planting in lime soils. They like deep, well-drained loam and benefit by a little peat or compost placed about the roots at planting time. Soil should be well aerated. Transplanting isn't advised because injury to large roots generally leads to ill health. They shouldn't be planted very close together. In order to blossom, they need to be planted where they can get plenty of sunshine. From my observations, the sunny side of a magnolia has many blossoms; the side shaded out by other trees seldom has a blossom.
There are about 80 species of trees and shrubs in the genus "Magnolia". They are native to the eastern United States, but varieties and cultivars are grown as far north as Canada. Some of them have the largest leaves and flowers of any trees in the temperate region. |
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