Magnolias
As the dark days of winter in southern Australia end and the longer days of spring usher in a new season, magnolia species growing in gardens in southern Australian gardens begin to come into flower. Most of these originate from China and Japan and Magnolia cylindrica is typical of these forms. There are five specimens growing in the Mount Lofty Botanical Gardens that were grown from seed collected in the Che Kiang province of China 20 years ago. The conservation status of this species is vulnerable in its natural habitat. Plants can take up to twelve years to flower from seed, and each of these individual plants show an amazingly wide range of differences when they are in flower. This variation is quite typical of the magnolia genus, as well as having the ability to hybridise with other species.
The Magnolia Walk at the Mount Lofty Botanical Gardens near Adelaide, is situated in a north facing gully that is not generally ideal for these plants as they prefer a cool position, but seeing them grown there successfully shows how hardy they are compared to how azaleas and camellias would fare grown in the same situation.
The large cups of magnolias are not designed for a wet Australian spring, where rain, wind and hail can destroy the flowers. In China the plants flower in the mountains in protected positions under clear blue skies without significant winds. Magnolias are very primitive flowering plants, the leathery segments of the flower known as tepals, with the central stigma fertilised mostly by beetles, as bees, which would be typical spring pollinators, are not active at the colder temperatures when magnolias are in flower. Magnolias develop large, ugly fruits in summer with red seeds. Patience is required when growing magnolias from seed.
Filed under: Uncategorized
