Magnolia soulangiana--Saucer Magnolia
Magnolia soulangiana--Saucer Magnolia
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Saucer magnolia grows 25 feet tall and spreads 30 feet. The tree has a moderate growth rate and grows best in a sunny location in rich, moist, porous soil. Saucer magnolia dislikes dry or alkaline soil. Transplant in the spring, just as growth begins and use balled and burlapped plants. Older plants do not like to be pruned and large wounds may not heal well. Large fuzzy flower buds are carried through the winter at the tips of the branches. They open in early spring to produce large, white flowers with the backs or bottoms of petals colored pink. The flower display is often cut short or destroyed by frost.
Some saucer magnolia cultivars will be hard to find: 'Alba'--flowers almost white; 'Alexandrina'--flowers almost white; 'Amabalis'--flowers white; 'Andre LeRoy'--flowers dark pink to purplish outside, cup shaped; 'Brozzonii'-- flowers white shaded with purple; 'Burgundy'--deep purple flowers, blooms earlier; 'Grace McDade'--flowers white with pink at the petal bases; 'Lennei'--flowers rosy purple outside, white flushed with purple inside, flowers large, blooms later; 'Liliputin'--slow grower' 'Lombardy Rose'-- similar to Lennei except flowers continue to open for several weeks; 'Niemetzi'--upright growth; 'Rubra'-- ('Rustica', 'Rustica Rubra')--similar to Lennei; 'San Jose'--large flowers nearly as dark as Lennei; 'Speciosa'-- similar to 'alba' but it is last of the cultivars to bloom, a tall, upright, fast growing tree; 'Spectabilis'--flowers almost white; 'Verbanica'--flowers clear rose pink outside, late blooming, slow growing.