soulangeana

naked branches sport pink waxen flowers till they drop brown chinese saucers soulangeana partial shade flowers drop soon fat and fleshy like wax a pain to pick up frost turns buds brown another flowerless year far too much trouble

Magnolia soulangeana always strikes me as clumsy. I much prefer the daintier magnolia stellata [below]. It so happens that we have a huge M.soulangeana tree in our backgarden. Apparently the biggest in the county, with a preservation order on it. Pity. I would have had it out. It takes days to clean up after it, when the entire lawn is covered in its fat brown sticky aftermath. And one ends up with a very sore back as it has to be done by hand. A rake doesn't cut it. And of course the slightest bit of frost turns the flowers brown even sooner; sometimes before the buds have fully opened, so you have a whole year without the supposed pleasure of this tree. I haven't the patience and acceptance of Basho, who never saw his banana tree fruit, or even flower, as it was totally the wrong climate. I'll donate my magnolia tree to him posthumously :-)

Written for a prompt at CarpeDiem