The first signs of spring blossoms are here in Melbourne – deciduous magnolias are coming into flower. By the seaside in Williamstown and even in the South Eastern suburbs, buds are erupting into glorious tulip-shaped flowers. When this starts happening, you know the worst of winter is over. We couldn’t be more excited.
We sell about 75 different varieties of magnolia trees, but we’ve chosen the 9 best magnolias for an early spring vibe in your Melbourne garden.
1. Leonard Messel
2. Black Tulip
3. Magnolia ‘Soulangeana’
4. Burgundy Glow
5. Rustica Rubra
6. Star Wars
7. Nigra
8. Butterflies
9. Yulan
Things might be feeling a bit bleak right now. You wake up – it’s dark. You go home from work – it’s dark. It can be a tough time, both in your garden and in life. Planting an early flowering magnolia could be the perfect remedy.
Magnolias are wonderful trees for more than just their early spring blossoms. It can be tricky knowing which one to pick when there’s such a variety of choice, so we hope this helps you decide. Below you’ll see our favourite deciduous magnolias and their individual strengths.
Also just to be clear, we will not be talking about evergreen magnolias like Teddy Bear and Port Wine here. Instead, we are focusing purely on magnolias that lose their leaves in autumn, are bare for winter, and then put out gorgeous blossoms in late winter and early spring on otherwise bare branches, with leaves appearing later.
It is a cold winters day in July right now and Leonard Messel is one of the first Magnolias to start flowering. Leonard Messel is in the Star Magnolia family, and they used to be quite popular but nowadays are rarer and more unusual.
But Leonard Messel is actually one of the best of them. The flowers on them are star-shaped and white with a lovely blush of pink. It is also very fragrant.
The great thing about Leonard Messel is that it is much smaller than most of the other Magnolias. You can think of it more as a big bush than a small sized tree.
So these are a great option for people with limited space or a smaller garden, maybe you have a spot in the front yard, and you don’t want a tree that is going to tower over the house.
Chris says: “Black Tulip is actually my second favourite Magnolia to put in the garden (don’t worry we’ll get to number one). What I like about it is that it also isn’t too big of a tree, it’s a medium to small sized tree. The flowers are a good hearty size that stick around for ages, so you’re getting a good long show out if it. Not to mention the colour of those flowers is absolutely exquisite, such a deep dramatic burgundy, you can’t help but stop in your tracks to admire it. What’s fantastic too is the flowers are hardy against nasty weather and won’t damage easily, so you don’t need to fret during the spring storms.“
The Black Tulip magnolia is usually more expensive and harder to get, but for good reason. It is one of the few magnolias that are produced by grafting.
It’s also one of the best magnolias for that deep purple, burgundy colour. Chris explains: “What happened was about 20 years ago, somebody developed a gene of magnolia that was a purple-red hue, which launched a whole series of red-purple magnolias like Vulcan. This sounds great, but it actually became quite hard to find a classic magnolia back then. But eventually the market crystalised and Black Tulip came out on top as the best deep coloured magnolia.”
If you are loving the sound of Black Tulip magnolias, but the price makes you think twice, then here’s some good news. Right now we are having a Winter Clearance, and Black Tulips are being sold for the cheapest you will ever get. We hate fake urgency and are being genuine when we say that Black Tulips are virtually unavailable by the middle of magnolia season, so now really is the time to be getting one.
Soulangeana itself is a species of magnolia which then has a lot of variations, so we just want to quickly define it. When you see Magnolia ‘Soulangeana’, this is the classic magnolia that everyone imagines when you talk about magnolias. Melbourne has been full of them for hundreds of years and you’ll find them in beautiful old (and new) gardens. They are also called “Saucer Magnolias”.
The classic Soulangeana magnolia is fairly easy to grow. They love a warm sunny space with room to spread out, ad need nice loose soil with fairly rich conditions and plenty of water in the summer. It’s a good idea to give them some chicken or cow manure. You’ll find they grow very quickly. Arguably they put on the best show of all the Magnolias on the market.
There are then quite a few varieties of Soulangeana magnolia that have been bred as “spin-offs” from the original, with most of them blossoming early in the season. They range in size from small to quite a large tree. They are all incredibly spectacular, and when they flower your whole tree is covered in amazed pink tulip-shaped flowers with white centres. They’re generally not too expensive because they’re produced by cutting and most of them aren’t patented varieties. A general rule of thumb is that patented magnolias always cost more than normal magnolias.
Now on that list of saucer magnolia spin-offs is around 20 varieties of Soulangeana, but below we’re going to talk about the three most interesting ones.
True to name, it really does have a glowy look about it from the dark burgundy stripe and light pink over the rest of it. It’s one of the most compact of the Soulangeana, so if you are wanting the amazing show of a Soulangeana but don’t have a lot of space, then Burgundy Glow is the one to go for.
This is Chris’ favourite Soulangeana aesthetically because each individual flower is a work of art. They are enormous with a soft pink on the outside and an ever softer pink-white on the inside. There is a lovely hint of fragrance to it. Rustica Rubra is a medium sized tree that blossoms around midseason. If you wanted something really magnificent with a slightly different colour, then choose Rustic Rubra.
Star Wars is a Soulangeana magnolia with a real difference. What makes it so unique is that it repeat flowers in the summer, something that really no other Magnolia does. So you get that wonderful show of spring blossoms on bare branches, and then in summer amongst the green leaves are another flush those distinctive flowers. It’s worth noting that the summer flowering is nowhere near as heavy as the spring flowering, but you still get the best of both worlds.
Star Wars is one of the last Soulangeanas to flower and blossoms quite late in spring. So if you want you garden to put on a spectacle later in spring and also get blossoms in summer, then the Star Wars magnolia is the perfect pick.
Now there actually is one more magnolia that flowers in the summer. Nigra or liliiflora is just about the last magnolia to flower in the season, flowering in mid to late October. The blossoms are a deep purple with a hint of silver on the inside. It is one of the smallest flowering magnolias, growing to only about two metes tall. Magnolia nigra are great for those wanting a rich colour in the garden, as well as a compact tree.
One of the rising stars of the magnolia world is the Butterflies variety. The flowers are a delectable shade of creamy yellow that is distinct from any other magnolia. They also give off a heavenly fragrance. Butterflies is a very compact magnolia variety, so it’s perfect for a small garden or limited space. It will grow to about 2-4 metres. You can plant it by itself, or if you have the space, plant a few together.
We have a little story from Chris to explain the magic of a Yulan Magnolia. This is our favourite Magnolia.
“When I was a boy, I lived in Mt Dandenong, and we had an enormous Magnolia in the front yard. It must’ve been 90 years old and was about nine metres tall and seven metres wide. In early September it would erupt into flower, and there must’ve been 20,000 white blooms all over it. And as those blooms opened the whole front garden was filled with an incredible fragrance. We had people coming all the time to take photos because it just so awe-inspiring. To this day it is the biggest magnolia tree I have ever seen.
“That magnolia was a Yulan or “denudate” magnolia. They have the purest white flower with the most incredible fragrance, and grow slowly and eventually into quite a large tree. But what is so exceptional about Yulan is that it hasn’t been bred to be this way, it’s a natural wild magnolia that originates in Japan. If you were to go to Japan and see it growing in the wild, it would look exactly as it does here in Melbourne gardens. It truly is one of the best Magnolias you could have.”
In Melbourne Yulan magnolias flower in late August through to early September. These are great for people who love magnolias and have a Green and White Garden, but would of course look fantastic in any garden style though. Even though Chris’ childhood tree was enormous, you can prune Yulan magnolias back to keep them as a small or medium sized tree, and this is easy to do as they are slow growing.
So you’ve picked out your Magnolia, but what else should you pair with it? Here are some good options that all love the shade underneath a tree:
So there’s your rundown on the best deciduous magnolias right now in Melbourne. They really are phenomenal trees that give you that delightful indication that spring is on its way. From pure whites to deep purples, you get your pick of what shade you would like in your garden. Not only do these flowers look incredible, but they also give off a delectable fragrance. We just love magnolias so much.
Overcome the winter blues and go take a walk around your neighbourhood and see if you can spot any magnolias blossoming.
Feeling inspired to create your own garden, but want some expert advice? Try our one-on-one garden design service with Chris. Together you’ll come up with a selection of plants along with a layout plan that gives you the look you want, as well as being suitable for your local soil and conditions.
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