Information on Magnolia Blooms

Bloom Size

• The size of magnolia blooms varies, but even the smaller flowers of certain species are large enough to be extremely showy. Types like yellow poplar and cucumber tree have flowers in the 2- to 3-inch range, while the southern magnolia turns out flowers up to 12 inches wide. Ashe magnolia, bigleaf magnolia, Fraser magnolia, saucer magnolia and umbrella magnolia also produce flowers between 10 and 12 inches wide.

Bloom Color

• Most magnolia trees have white flowers or cream-colored ones, but certain hybrid shrub forms give landscapers a more colorful option. Ann, for example, is a cultivar shrub that features purple-red flowers, and the similar Betty cultivar has reddish-purple flowers with white interiors. Yellow Bird is a hybrid magnolia tree that has yellow blooms; yellow lantern is another tree form that has creamy yellow flowers.

Bloom Shape

• The larger magnolia flowers have big petals and a wide-open, spreading appearance. Some of the species with smaller flowers have cup- or bell-shaped blooms. These types include the yellow poplar, nicknamed the tulip tree because its flowers look like tulips. The cucumber tree's flowers look like bells.

Blooming Times

• The flowers emerge on different magnolia types at different times, but all are in bloom before springtime ends. Star magnolia is a species that has flowers in March, even before any of its leaves bud out. The southern magnolia blooms during May and June, but is capable of producing flowers throughout the summer months after the first major blooming period.

Size of Magnolia Trees

• Some of the magnolia trees grow so tall, with their blooms in the upper portions of the tree, that the flowers become very difficult to spot. This problem, though, does not occur when you use magnolia shrubs or smaller magnolia trees in the landscape. For example, the deciduous shrub hybrids Ann and Betty grow to 10 and 15 feet respectively. Among the smaller magnolia trees are types including the kobus magnolia from Japan and the saucer magnolia, a hybrid species; both these trees seldom get bigger than 25 feet.