Yulan Magnolia Magnolia denudata Yulan

Fat grey felted buds sit on bare wood through winter and open into white goblets held upright along the branches, carrying a light lemon scent that most of the coloured garden hybrids lost along the way. Yulan is the Chinese species standing behind a great many of those hybrids, and it builds a broad rounded small tree rather than a narrow one, with large clean leaves following the flowers. Planted at the end of a lawn or against a dark hedge that sets the white off, it will carry a garden on its own for a few weeks.

It opens earliest, and that is the risk

Yulan is among the first of the deciduous magnolias to break, usually ahead of the saucer types, and pure white petals show every mark. One clear cold night on open flowers turns the display brown by morning, and there is no second flush to fall back on. The site is what decides this. Avoid frost hollows, the low point of a sloping block, and open lawn with clear sky above it, all of which radiate heat away overnight. Plant instead where a building, a canopy tree or a hedge holds a little warmth over the tree, and favour an aspect that warms gradually with morning sun rather than one that thaws hard and fast.

Soil and root zone

Rich, free draining soil on the acid side, improved out wide rather than deep, in full sun to part shade. The fleshy roots run close to the surface, so mulch annually with composted bark or leaf litter and keep spades and cultivators out of the root zone entirely. Allow for a canopy close to as broad as it is tall. Plant in autumn or at the beginning of spring and water deeply through dry spells for the first few summers while the root system establishes.

Winter is part of the display

Unlike the evergreen magnolias, the framework here is on show for months, and the silvery buds are ornamental from midwinter onwards. That makes the branch structure worth thinking about: take out crossing or dead wood in the weeks after flowering, keep the cutting minimal, and let the outline stay open enough to see through. Buds for the next season form over summer, and magnolias shoot poorly from old wood, so a hard cut is a long term loss of shape rather than a season of it. Feed at the end of winter and once more when the flowers are done, with a controlled release complete fertiliser for acid loving trees.

Yulan and its descendants

Magnolia x soulangeana was raised from this species and is the choice for pink and purple saucers on a wide multi stemmed frame. Elizabeth, another descendant, is narrower and pyramidal with primrose yellow flowers, so it takes the position where width is limited. Yulan is what you plant when you want white, an upright flower shape and the scent, and when you can offer both room and shelter. It is grown on through the advanced tree grades for gardens that need presence early.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 8 sizes, from 300mm up to 500L, priced from $129.00 to $4139.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a magnolia.