This April, London’s gardens and streets are awash with the stunning blooms of magnolias and crab apples. From the lemon-scented Magnolia denudata to the raspberry-and-cream flowers of wild crab apples, these trees bring a burst of colour and charm to the city. Did you know the wild crab apple has magical associations, or that some magnolias can grow up to 26 metres tall? Join us on 17 April as we explore the beauty and stories behind these springtime favourites. Don’t miss this floral celebration!
Article
Magnolias
The end of March and the early part of April is the peak time for Magnolias. Whereas March was dominated by the early small magnolias such as Magnolia souligiana and M. stellata now a whole host of small, large, white, pink, purple and even yellow magnolias start to be seen many accompanied with developing leaves. The Savill Garden is still the best place to become acquainted with the diversity of these trees, but the streets of London are also a rich source of different species and cultivars.
White magnolias encountered are often one of the following M. denudata (with its lemon-scented buds), M. sieboldii, M. sinensis or M. globosa. All these have flowers with red centres. M. stellata is the most ubiquitous and a firm favourite in many small gardens. This is partly due to its ability to flower at such a young age. White forms of M. soulangeana such as ‘Lennei Alba’ are also very popular. M. kobus has white flowers and is often in bloom on the first day of the month. This tree was first introduced by Charles Maries who was a collector for the famous Veitch and Sons nursery at Coombe Wood in Surrey. He is said to have travelled five hundred miles in Japan searching for one particular fir tree. After being caught in a particularly heavy thunderstorm he also once had to walk thirty-four miles back to his lodgings. On yet another occasion he returned to his lodgings to find they were burnt down. His benefactor, Sir Henry Veitch, was reported to have commented that “he was enthusiastic, but lacked staying power”.
Examples of pale pink magnolias seen now are M. loebneri ‘Leonard Messel’, M x veitchii, M x dawsoniana and even more pink forms of M x soulangeana.. The former tree is worth looking out for in collections. Its flowers are a pale rose colour inside and purple on the outside. It also stands out as its flowers are held horizontally. Dark pink magnolias to be seen now include M. ‘Eric Savill’, M. lilliflora and M. ‘Susan’. The famous wild magnolia of the Himalayas M. campbelli is also now in flower.
Yellow magnolias include the cucumber tree M. acuminata which is the tallest of all magnolias, reaching almost twenty six metres at Kew. M. tripetala is called the umbrella tree on account of its umbrella-like leaves. M. ‘Elizabeth’ is a primrose yellow and M. delavayi has one of the largest of all tree leaves to be seen in London. A little later than most of these trees, the highly scented M. cordata and M. hypoleuca come into flower.
Crab apples
It is also now time for one of our most beautiful native trees, the wild crab apple Malus sylvestris to come into flower with its raspberry and cream coloured flowers. Truly wild crab apples tend to be small trees with round, dense crowns with not so many flowers as domestic apple trees. Orchard apple trees also tend to have more hairy leaves and the flowers have a woolly calyx which crab apples do not. Even so, identification is not that easy. Good places to look for wild specimens are in woods and along ancient hedgerows, where they may have been originally planted as a subsistence crop. Our wild apple is a parent of the domestic apple and still used as a root stock when grafting new varieties. The sour juice extracted from the apples was called verjuice and was used amongst other things to treat scalds. Popular crab apple hybrids in our streets include ‘Golden Hornet’, ‘John Downie’ and ‘Butterball’.
Wild crab apples are the least abundant of our native trees, often found singly deep within woods yet all the more attractive for that. They were very common in Epping Forest in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and are said to have declined due to increasing shade. In the past, the apples from these trees were revered and had magical associations. The body of King Arthur was said to have been borne to the Vale of Avalon or Vale of Apple trees where he continues to lie till England is in need.
