Saucer Magnolia Magnolia x. soulangeana

For a few weeks at the end of winter the saucer magnolia is nothing but flower. Fat goblets open on bare grey branches before a single leaf appears, rosy purple outside and much paler within, so the whole plant reads as colour from right across a garden. Then the broad matt green leaves follow and the show is over for the year. It grows as a wide multi stemmed large shrub or a low branching small tree, frequently as broad as it is tall, and the smooth silver grey bark carries the winter framework once the petals have gone.

Give it the width at planting

The spreading shape is the reason to grow this one, and it is the first thing people lose. A saucer magnolia crowded against a path, a driveway or a fence gets cut back on one side every year, and since magnolias do not reshoot willingly from old wood the plant never rebuilds that flank. Allow for a canopy at least as wide as it is tall before you dig the hole. On a multi stemmed plant a whole stem can be taken out at ground level to open the frame up, which is a far better move than shortening every branch and leaving the plant a size too small on all sides.

Never dig underneath it

What damages established plants here is cultivation. The roots are fleshy, brittle and run close to the surface, so turning over a bed beneath the canopy, trenching for irrigation or scalping the ground with a line trimmer causes dieback that shows up as bare branches the following spring, long after anyone has connected the two events. Mulch instead of digging. Underplant with nothing more demanding than bulbs, keep edging tools well away from the base, and let the mulch do the job a groundcover would otherwise be asked to do.

Climate and siting

Cool and temperate gardens across the south east, the tablelands and the higher parts of the south west, in full sun to part shade. Morning sun and shelter matter, because open flowers brown quickly in a hard wind or a late frost. Free draining, humus rich, slightly acid soil improved over a wide area. Plant in autumn or at the start of spring, water deeply through dry spells for the first few summers, and feed once towards the end of winter and once after the petals drop. Prune only in the few weeks after flowering, since buds for the next season form through the summer.

Where the other deciduous types fit

Yulan is one of the parents behind this hybrid and is the choice for pure white upright goblets with a light scent instead of pink and purple saucers. Cleopatra takes the colour further into wine purple on a far narrower, more upright plant, which is the practical option for a courtyard or a narrow bed where a saucer magnolia would outgrow the space in every direction. Buy this one when you have room to let a broad low branching plant develop and you want the familiar flower. It is carried in a long run of sizes, from small pots through the feature tree grades to advanced stock.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 14 sizes, from 200mm up to Bare Root Regular, priced from $32.95 to $1579.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a magnolia.