Pink ribbons
The beautiful flowers of the Leonard Messel magnolia are a fleeting treasure in early spring
In my usual scramble to make a mid-afternoon appointment I was fully focused on my driving. Then, suddenly I caught sight of this diminutive tree completely smothered in pink ribbons.
Unable to stop my car in the traffic, I went on my way. But returning a couple of hours later I found a nearby parking spot and walked back to admire this beautiful sight up close.
It was a Leonard Messel Magnolia in full bloom. A magnolia like that growing in Vermont seemed too good to be true. Magnolias are more reminiscent of stately southern homes than a a small New England town.
I admired how the gardener had chosen an exemplary spot for this delicate tree, cradling it in the southwest facing angle of the house, but far enough out from the corner so that it would have room to grow into its natural shape. In this spot it was also protected from late frosts and chilling winds. Furthermore the dark slate-blue color of the house was the ideal foil for the effervescent pink flowers. It was indeed a picture perfect.
Just four days later Dick and I were passing this same spot, so I pulled over to share my special find with him. But alas, the pink ribbons were now strewn across the ground and the magic was over….until next year.
What is a ‘Leonard Messel’ magnolia?
The slate-blue color of this house creates the perfect foil for the pink flowers of this Leonard Messel Magnolia
It is one of several cultivars known collectively as Loebner Magnolias, created about 100 years ago by the German hybridizer Max Lobner, who experimented with crossing the Kobus Magnolia, Magnolia kobus and the Star Magnolia, Magnolia stellata. Most Loebner hybrids are slow-growing small trees that are perfectly at home in suburban gardens and, if carefully sited, will usually flower even in colder climates.
They are claimed to be hardy in zone 4, but with the obvious proviso that if there is a late cold snap the fat emerging buds will be damaged, resulting in a flowerless year. However is said that the Leonard Messel hybrid, the result of yet more breeding in the beautiful gardens of Nymans in Sussex, England, produces its buds a week or so later than the others, hereby dodging some late frosts.
Many Loebner cultivars, including ‘Merriill’ and ‘Ballerina’, have inherited the familiar white flowers of the the parent Star Magnolia, also grow in Vermont.
But my heart is won by Leonard Messel, with its frothy pink ribbons that are so reminiscent of the huge Saucer magnolias which grace the stately homes of the south. I will surely be watching that little tree next year for a repeat of the spring magic.