 |
| April 29, 2011 |
This is now an ex-plant. In spring 2013 it never fully leafed out. There had been damage to the trunk from antler rub in the fall of 2012. By early spring 2013 the wound looked healed, but it was extensive, and yellow flowered magnolias are particularly susceptible to bark damage.
A crack had developed on the other side of the narrow trunk, perhaps from sunscald. It was enough to finish this beautiful tree off. In May 2013 I took it out, and replaced it with a variegated sweetgum.
Here is the history of Magnolia 'Elizabeth in my garden:
I put this classic yellow flowering magnolia in next to the driveway. I got a nice small one from Broken Arrow.
It will grow to about 25 feet. Nice yellow blossoms, that fade to cream. Very young trees bloom, and this one certainly did the first spring after transplant. Gets golden yellow in fall, although in its first season I did not see any real fall color.
Garden gently under magnolias, fleshy roots can easily be damaged. Tuck in natural spreaders and let them flourish untouched.
Here she is just after transplant:
 |
| May 17, 2010 |
 |
| May 2, 2011 |
She took a beating in the late fall snowstorm of October 2011, but survived, a little lopsided and oddly shaped.
 |
| October 31, 2011 |
This magnolia blooms heavily, even on the young spindly branches.
 |
| April 15, 2012 |
A late April frost turned Elizabeth's pretty flowers to brown mush in 2012, but they were beautiful while they lasted.
The tree is a fast grower, and in 2012 it quickly regrew and filled in where the storm had stripped branches off. There it is, right in the middle of the long driveway bed, awkwardly sending up new branches and filling in out below.
 |
| 8/2/12 |
By September it was even fuller.
Deer found the trunk in early winter and rubbed a raw spot. By spring 2013 it had healed over, with a callus all around, but it was large wound. Additionally, a long, open crack developed on the other side of the trunk. Yellow flowering magnolias do not tolerate damage to the bark or branches very well at all, and this tree had been damaged in the storm in 2011, then further hit by these wounds.
It did flower a little bit in April, but the blooms never fully opened. Then it tried to leaf out but it was sparse and the leaves were noticeably stunted. By the end of May it was clear the tree was dying and I took it out.
 |
| 4/25/13 |
I was so sad to lose this tree.
This is what a mature one can look like in April, but sadly I won't see one in my garden:
 |
| from Northscaping.com |
Propagation:
Softwood cuttings, but they are difficult.
