My mother has a white star magnolia that she planted 45 years ago in North Vancouver, BC. This year, instead of the usual white flowers, it's now covered entirely in pink flowers for the very first time since it was planted. Could it due to climate conditions prior to flowering? Or do old magnolias revert back to parent characteristics?
I've had my white star magnolia for about ten years and the same thing happened this spring. The flowers are all pink, and I've been curious about the reason as well.
This is not an answer. I'm finding these reports so curious - several of the 'Akebono' cherries are less pink this year, paler buds and opening white right away.
Wiki mentions something about color changes: Magnolia stellata - Wikipedia "...the pink also changes from year to year, depending on day and night air temperatures prior to and during flowering."
They're talking about already non-white forms varying in depth of coloring with the weather. This is different from white kinds suddenly blooming pink.
