Magnolia 'Porcelain Dove'

My Magnolia V. "Porcelain Dove" has been established for 5 years in full sun in a moist, clay loam soil amended at planting with 50/50 mi...Read Morex of the native clay loam (50%) plus a mix 25% natural pine bark mulch and 25% commercial acid soil bagged mix (such as used for rhododendrons) to make up the other 50%. The Porcelain Dove prefers an acidic to neutral soil as is the case with almost all magnolias. It is planted and thrives at the rear of my yard in a low area that is part of the neighborhood boundary drainage swale system; moist in spring run-off , and then intermittently moist with rains. These conditions are similar to the low moist growth areas in its natural habitat. My Porcelain Dove is located in Guelph, Ontario Canada. It survived the unusually cold winters (negative 34 celcius) of 2013 and 2014 with minimal twig die-back . Semi evergreen in mild winters (negative 15C) .

It flowers in this area in last week of June to about the 20th of July with sequential flowers perhaps 10 to 15 at a time. The fragrance of lemons is outstanding. On humid summer July nights with still air the fragrance can be enjoyed in a 30 foot radius around it. Rogue flowers appear singly periodically to September. I keep my plant purposely as a tall shrub now 10 feet high by 6 feet wide. I find this way it grows more compactly and yields more blooms. If left to grow without management, I expect from the branch structure, it would grow openly and spindly similar to the native Magnolia Virginiana (sweet bay) in nature. It tends to have multiple leaders. USDA Zone in Guelph, Ontario (150 miles north of Buffalo NY) is 6.
I also have a franklinia successfully growing for 5 years . It is now 7 feet x 5 feet wide. So far in 2016 it has yielded about 150 blooms with 50 or so buds yet to open until the frost kill sometime late October. Seed capsules are now setting from the earliest blooms of this year. I mention the franklinia as the magnolia virginiana species and the extinct in the wild franklinia share the same native wild habitat of northern Florida.

Magnolia globosa x virginiana, This tree is known for its heavy fragrance. It is deciduous in the coldest areas of its range, semi-everg...Read Morereen to evergreen in milder areas. It looks like a Swamp Magnolia on steroids. Buy it if you can find it. It tends to sell out quickly.