Larry Smith and the Riverside Gardens team talk all things pots, plants and pruning in their weekly gardening column.

Driving around the streets of Shepparton the past week or so it was hard to miss the stunning displays that the deciduous magnolias were putting on in people’s gardens.

With their leafless branches absolutely covered in a mass of flowers, they made a stark contrast to the way they had been looking over the winter months.

Deciduous magnolias flower typically on bare branches before the leaf appears later in spring.

The length and fullness of flowering display is dependant on the weather throughout that time.

With the large petals on their blooms sitting proud on the branches without any protection from other foliage, they are susceptible to damage from heavy rain or strong winds.

So, the more settled the weather is over the spring months the longer and more prolific the flower display will be.

Most magnolias trace their origin back to Asia and the United States, growing in a wide range of conditions throughout those regions, but predominantly in the cooler or low mountainous areas.

This is a vast difference to our hot, dry summers, but with the help of our cold winters and a little care on placement, they will grow quite happily here.

That is evident in the display they put on every year around town.

The larger growing variety that is presently covered in shades of white, pink, and purple large flowers, is Magnolia x soulangeana.

This is often called the Cup and Saucer Magnolia or the Tulip Magnolia and is a hybrid magnolia that originated in France in the early 1800s.

It has since probably become the most well known of the deciduous magnolias in many countries.

Magnolia x Soulageana can reach a height of around six metres in our area, but even bigger in cooler regions.

It is an earlier flowering variety renowned for its wind tolerance and its large cup and saucer-type flowers.

The leaves will slowly re-emerge as the flower display starts to decline, and the plant will settle back into the garden as a large bushy upright shrub or small tree.

The foliage is oval shaped with a slightly coarse, matte finish, light green colour, with leaves about 15cm long that form a dense canopy as they mature.

Magnolia Black Tulip is one of the more recent magnolia hybrids that we stock in the Garden Centre.

It was hybridised in New Zealand and is one of the darkest coloured magnolia flowers — a vibrant, rich, red-burgundy colour.

These beautiful dark flowers are amazingly large and can reach around 20cm across. They are a deep goblet shape and hold well on the plant, considering their size.

Black Tulip is a shorter growing variety reaching about 3.5m tall, making it ideal for smaller town gardens.

Magnolia denudata, commonly called the White Magnolia or Yulan Magnolia, has ivory white goblet-shaped flowers that, in China, are often regarded as a symbol of purity and is probably the oldest magnolia in cultivation.

Magnolia denudata was crossed with Magnolia liliiflora to produce the hybrid Magnolia x soulangeana, giving it many of its characteristics.

Magnolia denudata grows to about 6m to 8m high with beautiful large, thick, strong white-petalled flowers that are about 16cm across and have a citrus-lemon fragrance.

Like soulangeana, they flower from early spring through to late spring. It is by far the most loved white deciduous magnolia.

Another impressive New Zealand hybrid is Magnolia Vulcan, which grows slightly larger than the Black Tulip, but is just as impressive, with its flowers reaching up to 30cm across.

It has cup and saucer-type flowers in a rich, ruby red colour and grows to about 5m.

Magnolia Cleopatra is a small to medium upright tree with a columnar form, making it suitable for town gardens yet big enough to still be a feature in large gardens.

Growing to around 4m high by 3m wide, they can be easily worked in among other plants in a garden bed.

The large goblet-shaped, red to cerise-pink flowers have an almost metallic sheen and are slightly scented.

In areas with high summer rainfall, Magnolia Cleopatra can often flower again in late summer.

This has happened over the past few years to the plants we have had in the Garden Centre.

Magnolia Felix is another soulangeana cultivar bred by the same magnolia breeders as Magnolia Vulcan and Magnolia Black Tulip.

Magnolia Felix was named after Felix Jury by his family, recognising all the years of development that he put towards this beautiful variety.

Magnolia Felix produces an abundant amount of large, goblet-shaped vibrant hot pink flowers that have a subtle fragrance.

It can be hard to believe that the huge blooms, which can reach 30cm across, are real. They are a medium-sized tree growing to about a height of 4m to 6m with a similar spread, forming a rounded canopy.

Most of the magnolias that you see growing around our area are the older varieties, but as the more recent varieties start to mature in gardens, they are bound to be just as spectacular in their display.

So, if you are tempted to incorporate a magnolia into your garden, call in and have a chat to us at the Garden Centre and discuss which variety is going to best suit your situation.

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Wednesday, 20th August 2025

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