Magnificent Magnolia

Took our grandsons for a walk this morning to a park near their home. There we found a secret walled garden full of lovely things.

The most exciting specimen was a Magnolia Grandiflora which must have been planted 100 years ago as they are slow growing and it was probably thirty to forty feet high.

It is a native of south eastern USA. It is more common in this country in Cornwall and Devon and is rather rare as far north as Cheshire.

Here it flowers in late summer and the open flowers were near the top of the tree and thus not easy to photograph. Moreover the do not fully open.

The extra shows a seed pod in the process of turning red. The evergreen leaves are a lovely light tan colour underneath.

A most exciting find.