The magnolia show-offs of the garden are doing their thing right now - are there more of them in bloom together? It's so worth a trip. The show starts as you approach from the parking lot to see these two magnolias by the gazebo. Here's the M. sprengeri 'Eric Savill'. Just before the underpass to the north side is this beautifully-shaped M. sargentiana. I was very taken with the colour of this M. campbellii subsp. mollicomata just outside the south fence. To borrow from one of my favourite YouTube clips, "crayola doesn't make a color ..." - these photos don't capture the delicate salmon colour. There are LOTS more magnolias in bloom. I was amazed to find that the Rhododendron barbatum are still in bloom - past their prime, but I posted them on February 13! It was the calyx that attracted me to this other red rhody, R. thomsonii subsp. thomsonii Here's the katsura, Cercidiphyllum japonicum, just starting to leaf out.
Notice the tepals have departed from some of the Sprenger magnolia while the stamens are still fresh. This is a particular drawback with this otherwise exciting and admired hardy species - once the flowers open their tepals toss about wildly even in comparatively gentle breezes, tear off. Any serious wind and a specimen is left with no complete, fully opened blooms. A curious feature perhaps existing because it may not interfere with pollination. The Sargent magnolia is liable to be an example of var. robusta as it looks like one and the typical species - which I have never seen in person, myself - is different. One of the best things about Rhododendron thomsonii is its bark.
