For a cool temperate climate - not
too cool, mind - there are few more imposing trees than Magnolias. I grow the
Magnolia veitchii x liliiflora hybrid 'Raspberry Ice' in my own small garden and it's slowly making an ever more impressive show for a brief three weeks in late March / early April. But for sheer spectacle I have to go to one of the great Cornish gardens. They've had the space and the time to grow these beauties to a stature that cannot fail to impress. On Friday last I had a few brief hours at Lanhydrock, a National Trust house and garden near Bodmin in Cornwall. Here's a brief glimpse of what awaits if you visit at the right time. Click the images to embiggen:
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| Magnolia campbelli (left) dominates the small stream area at Lanhydrock |
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| Magnolia x veitchii 'Isca' (left) and M.'Iolanthe' (right) |
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| Looking over the herbaceous beds to the giant Magnolia campbellii trees |
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| Magnolias on the borders above the house |
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| Magnolia 'Apollo' |
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| Magnolia campbellii |
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| Pure white flowers of Magnolia 'David Clulow' |
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| Single flower of the Yulan, Magnolia heptapeta (denudata) |
Alas, the season is brief. But, even as it fades, it leaves a legacy. Falling petals carpet the ground under the trees, at times so thickly as to hide all else. As they might say down here "Proper Cornish Snow'.
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| Magnolia campbellii petals carpet the ground at Lanhydrock |
I absolutely love magnolias! So much that I did the incredibly stupid – or clever thing of buying not one but TWO magnolias last year, for my tiny, 62 m2 garden. Yep, time will tell how clever it was!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour, loved the photos.
As long as they're one of the smaller ones you should be all right for a year or three. If not - well, maybe you should be planning a move!
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