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| Magnolia x kewensis 'Wada's Memory' |
Last post I covered some of the red blooming plants here at Oak Lawn and today I thought I'd get to some of the whites. I was quite amazed when I compiled a list, as I hadn't realized how large my number of white bloomers has actually become... with that in mind, I will only discuss a few of my favorites in today's post.
Pictured above and below is Magnolia x kewensis 'Wada's Memory'. The original tree came from Japan in 1940 with a number of other seedlings sent by Koichiro Wada who is know for a number of introductions of plants from Japan to the United States. This magnolia is of course, named for him. Wada's Memory stood out from the other seedlings by virtue of it's bloom size (to seven inches) and it's habit. In reference to the latter, it's blooms soon droop and hang as if pure white tissue paper. Since this is a prolific bloomer, it creates quite a show!
Wada's Memory will eventually get 40-50' tall and a good 18 feet in width at the base with a definitive cone shape. It is best planted where there is room for it's lower branches to be left intact... I have two trees and unfortunately don't have the space for displaying the branches all the way to ground level on either one. Other nice features of this tree include the red toned new foliage and the buttery yellow fall color. The tree was first registered in 1959. I have never been disappointed by the bloom on this tree although occasionally the pure white blossoms have been browned slightly by late frosts. Another nice feature of the plant is that it blooms at a very young age.
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| 'Wada's Memory' displaying the drooping nature of the blooms |
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| After 'Wada's Memory's buds open, they quickly expand to 6-7" and soon take on a drooping form which is lovely |
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| Magnolia kobus var. stellata |
When a plant is common in a wide variety of gardens, you just know there has to be a reason for it. Stellata means "star-like" and the above photo makes the connection obvious. It blooms young and is easily grown, and is also quite hardy. Some of mine have a touch of pink in their buds and there are also pink cultivars such as 'Rosea' and 'Jane Platt'.. Despite being one of the earliest magnolia bloomers, stellata cultivars hold up to frost pretty well with only some browning when the weather gets too cold unless there is a very hard freeze. Since there is a succession of buds, fresh flowers soon replace those damaged by frost or as in our case this past season, a late snow storm. There are numerous cultivars of Stellata available, but I suspect they sometimes come mislabeled. There isn't a lot happening in terms of foliage when the stellatas bloom so for best effect, try to plant with an evergreen backdrop. Another recommendation that I would make for the star magnolias is to do a little pruning and open up the branch and limb structure of more mature plants, much as one does with flowering crabs. This provides much greater plant interest, particularly in the winter.
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| Native trillium |
Another wonderful sign of spring are the trilliums. I don't have many, but thoroughly enjoy the ones that do grow in our gardens. I do have a couple of friends who were able to be a part of trillium rescues at sites where building development was taking place. What a glory their spring gardens are! Here are a few more white blooming inhabitants of our gardens at Oak Lawn...
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| Primula |
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| Epimedium 'Yenemoto' |
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| Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' |
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| Anemone sylvestris |
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| Philadelphus coronarius 'Natchez' |
Natchez is a 6-10' shrub that blooms late spring or early summer. Large white blossoms occur in full or partial sunlight on a plant that is drought tolerant and extremely hardy. Thanks to my good friend 'Frog Pond' who so frequently shares interesting plants with me!
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| White Martagon lily |
One of these years I'm going to invest in several of these amazing lilies that grow in the shade... to date all that I have is a clump of the white ones that isn't all that large a clump and has been here for years. There's a lot of info out there about how slow they can be and the cost for bulbs can be pretty expensive... but I've seen pictures of large clumps in the shade garden and I think they are amazing. I would appreciate hearing advice from any of you who grow martagons in the comment section of this post... I need some encouragement to get past my concerns! More white blooming plants in the next post... Thanks, Larry
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