Cyn's Nature Notes: Magnolias and Other Spring Flowers

Thursday 22 March 2012

Magnolias and Other Spring Flowers

This afternoon was warm and we sat outside enjoying the pleasant weather and watching the fish in the pond. The spring garden is so pretty, it has five magnolias presently four are in bloom; magnolia soulangeana with its huge mid pink blooms, which as the flower opens gradually change to pale pink, I read that this is known as the saucer magnolia, and it certainly is true that the flowers open out into the most wonderful saucer shape, but are of course larger than saucers.

Magnolia leonard messel, this is a darker pink and is paler inside, it has thin tapering petals and as many as ten on each flower. It is a very delicate looking tree and so pretty, it is very different in form from the last magnolia I described, but they stand opposite each other on the end left hand lawn and each one sets the other off beautifully.

The third magnolia is susan, it is bushier than the last one described and has reddish deep purple flowers, they are thin and goblet shaped and don't hold their shape so well as they open, it is not as pretty as leonard messel or as handsome as soulangeana but we bought it for its strong colour and it sits well in the garden.

Fourthly the wonderful magnolia stellata also known as star magnolia, there is a pink version known as magnolia stellata rosea, but we have the beautiful white one, it is slow growing and quite a compact plant, the flowers are multi-petalled and each one is long and thin. It is a magical plant, at dusk it seems to glow and even on a dark night, when everything else is lost in the black of night, the white petals will pick up any light shed by the moon and it looks captivating. During the day your eyes are drawn to its perfect canopy of white star like flowers.

The fifth magnolia not at present in bloom, is a grandiflora, it has magnificent shiny, tough leathery looking leaves. Many times I have cut it back over the years, because it grows so fast and is so big. Once I even sawed the trunk right down to ground level, but to no avail it just sent out many shoots and now has several trunks, which from time to time we remove, but it grows undaunted. It seems to flower almost all through the year with the largest flowers imaginable and the most incredible perfume --- that is usually how we know it is in flower as we are stopped in our tracks and assailed by the most wonderful smell.

Apart from the magnolias there are several forsythias in brightest eye catching yellow in flower, and at ground level are primulas of all types, including the dear little mauve one, wild primroses of which there are dozens and tall polyanthus, violets in varying shades from white through to darkest purple, pink and mauve aubretias scrambling down both the bank and a wall and a pretty white arabis that has already been flowering for several weeks.

To be able to sit out in such peace and contentment as a garden brings is very special, and these are moments to be cherished.

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About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.