As winter fades, London’s magnolias burst into life, painting the city in shades of white, pink, and deep purple. From the delicate star-shaped blooms of Magnolia stellata to the towering Himalayan Pink Tulip tree, these botanical wonders captivate with their grandeur and history. Discover the stories behind these majestic trees, from Victorian parks to temple gardens, and learn why they’re a gift for future generations. Join us on 23 March for a deep dive into the world of magnolias, where beauty meets legacy. Don’t miss this celebration of spring’s most breathtaking blooms!
Article
Magnolias
Magnolia time starts in early March and runs on until June but it is in March that we admire them the most. This is because magnolias produce their large, impressive flowers well before their leaves and before most other trees have come into leaf. The first we notice tends to be the Star magnolia Magnolia stellata with its hanging strap-shaped petals. These are usually white or pink in its various different forms. When we look at a magnolia flower it is not made up of sepals and petals but an amalgamation of both, called tepals. There are perhaps only three or four main species that flower as early as this but we seem to see many more. This is due to extensive plant breeding producing new cultivars, clones, hybrids and even polyploids. Selections are also made to encourage April flowering species to bloom a month early. The colour range we see normally this month is a narrow one running from white to deep purple through a multitude of shell pinks.
After the loose hanging flowers of the Star magnolia comes the main event. These are the typical chalice or goblet-shaped flowers that sit erect on naked branches often in great profusion. Due to its small size and dazzling show, M x soulangeana is one of the most popular. It originated in Paris in the nineteenth century from a cross between two famous early flowering lily magnolias, M. denudata and M. liliiflora. It also has numerous different coloured forms. Some are ivory or rose in colour whereas others are just stained purple at their base.
Then there are more famous forms such as ‘Lennei’ which just has enormous goblets made up of tepals that are purple on the outside yet creamy-white within. One of its parents is the ivory coloured Chinese Yulan M. denudata. Its bark has been compared to elephant skin and its lemon-scented buds were used to flavour rice. Its tepals are thicker and more fleshy than usual. They are ivory-coloured on the outside yet milky-white within. It was a great Victorian favourite and can still be found in some Victorian parks such as Ruskin park. Its other parent was the equally beautiful lily-flowered M. liliiflora. This has never been found in the wild but has survived having been cultivated for centuries in temple gardens.
Into this airy mix of interbreeding you can add two more early flowering species, the Willow magnolia M. salicifolia whose leaves smell of aniseed when crushed and the Northern Japanese magnolia M. Kobus which has leaves with very distinct points and shiny undersides. The latter species grows up to nine metres in height and can take as long as thirty years to produce its first flower. This habit of the taller magnolias taking so long to flower has led to them being regarded as a tree you plant for your children or descendents rather than yourself.
The most famous of these is the Giant Himalayan Pink Tulip tree M. campbellii. It has been called the most beautiful tree in the world growing up to thirty metres in height and then becoming completely covered in flowers that open like water lilies. In the wild it grows between eight and ten thousand feet close to the third highest mountain in the world, Mount Kangchenjunga. This area in Sikkim is thought to be possibly the inspiration of the mystical earthly paradise Shangri la. It was first discovered by another famous plant hunter J. D. Hooker. Unlike most of his contemporaries he travelled in luxury with a retinue of up to sixty servants. He named the magnolia after a Dr Archibald Campbell who was a local British political agent with whom he was imprisoned for a time. Later the agent was kidnapped and it was only a letter from Hooker that secured his release.
Londoners are well placed to get to know these trees and the National Collection is held in the Savill and Valley gardens near Windsor. The collection boasts thirty-one of the eighty known species and a breathtaking list of three hundred and thirty cultivars. These remarkable trees have the biggest of all buds and their leaves can be up to three quarters of a metre in length. About half come from America but the other half from Asia, particularly Japan, China and India yet most of those that we see around London are very recent additions.
