Magnolia BUTTERFLIES grafted

NEW zone 5b

The Magnolia acuminata Butterfly ('sometimes called 'Butterflies') is perhaps the best variety of yellow-flowered magnolia, and its moderate growth will suit even small gardens. This small tree has great vigor and flowers abundantly from a very young age. On its still leafless branches, numerous flowers bloom, large but light like butterflies and pleasantly fragrant. This variety, which tolerates cold but also heat well, will thrive in many regions, although the plant benefits from soil that tends to be acidic and always a little cool.

Magnolia Butterflies belong to the Magnoliaceae family. It is a horticultural hybrid resulting from the cross between Magnolia acuminata 'Fertile Myrtle' and M. denudata 'Sawada's Cream'. This excellent variety was obtained in 1988 in the state of Michigan in the United States.

A small tree or large shrub with good vigour, pyramidal shape with a well-branched crown, Butterflies®  measures at maturity (10 years) approximately 4.50 meters high, with a width of 3 m. In spring, in April, beautiful solitary, erect flowers of thick texture, with 10 to 14 petals, bloom before the leaves appear. These flowers, 11 to 12 cm in diameter, exude a sweet and sweet aroma of lemon essential oil. They arise from buds protected by silky bracts. The tepals (undifferentiated sepals and petals) are waxy in texture, a soft, warm yellow, opening onto a red heart with numerous yellow stamens and encircling a large green pistil. Its deciduous foliage falls in autumn. It is made up of large obovate leaves, 15 cm long, medium green, with a paler, finely hairy underside, turning yellow-brown in the fall. Butterfly® is hardy above -15°C.

Simply superb, this Magnolia Butterflies brings a crazy charm to the garden from the first sunny days. It is most often used as an isolated subject in the middle of a lawn, where its remarkable flowering is of the most beautiful effect, but it is advisable when installing it to remember that once flowering is finished, it will fall back somewhat into the 'anonymity. It will therefore be advantageously integrated into a bed of shrubs with staggered flowering (Lilac, Hibiscus, Camellias, Hydrangeas, Hamamelis, Pieris, Anemone tree, Fothergilla, etc.). In any case, make sure to see it from your windows so as not to miss a moment of this magnificent flowering with such unique colors, an antidote to the gloom that can occur when spring is long overdue.