Are magnolias good for bonsai?...

[Random User]

... or are they more of a PITA?

 

[0soyoung]

I've seen some interesting star's (magnolia stelleta).

 

[rockm]

Asian magnolias, primarily Magnolia Stellata is good for bonsai. The American species (magnolia grandifolia) is definitely NOT a bonsai candidate. Leaves are huge and flower are enormous for bonsai purposes. Leaves reduce only a little, flowers not at all.

 

[Carol 83]

I have a southern magnolia by the house. It has giant leathery leaves, and flowers almost as big as a plate. I was thinking about trying to grow some of the seeds. Now I know not to waste my time. Thanks

 

[yenling83]

Magnolias can make stunning and beautiful candidates for Bonsai. In general it's all about the leaf size when selecting varieties. Generally speaking the larger the leaf size, the larger your tree should be. The different Stellata varieties are fantastic.

 

[Random User]

Thanks for the replies... apparently there are zone 3 hardy varieties, but you've definitely shortened the list... will do more research.

 

[Marc Wiehn]

@SKBonsaiGuy: I think of flowering bonsai as desirable for their flowering first, their eventual leaf sizes, while not unimportant, are secondary to me. I had a Jane magnolia for a few years in a pot, nothing special, just a young plant with multiple trunks. Each spring it was the star on my bench for a week or two, depending how the weather cooperated with the bloom time. After that week or two... well it wasn't that great to look at, but not an ugly duckling either. Fertilized it, watered it and pruned it like my other trees and waited for the next spring for it to do its thing. In my opinion, very little effort for something that blooms so beautifully at the time of the year when I hunger the most for color and fragrance. Eventually I had to plant it in my yard as I couldn't take care of my trees for a while the way I wanted to. It's still there, 12ft tall now and still blooms every spring like mad, just at the right time.

I guess what I am trying to say is, if you enjoy a particular magnolia cultivar, or just want to try your hands on it go for it, no harm done. At the very least you learn some good lessons about how to take care of it. Who knows, maybe down the line you might run into a "better" magnolia specimen and you won't have to practice on it, In the same vein I am also going to try my hand on a Kwanza cherry this year. Have fun at whatever magnolia strikes your fancy!

 

[Random User]

Hey Marc...

I couldn't agree with you more about the magnolias; it's the colours that I am after, much the same as a bougainvillea. However, if I can have one that will survive outdoors like the rest of my trees, that would be ideal, and if I do a little research before hand, I might get a variety that is best suited for this zone and have good attributes as a bonsai to boot. ATM, I don't have a particular cultivar in mind. but a few quick opinions here helps heaps.

I have a Valentine Cherry that is quite small. I got it for $5.00 because it was the last of the litter and had been beaten up a bit. I think it will take 10 years to get to where it needs to be for bonsai, but I have seen a few of it's dwarf cousins growing here that top out around 10' and they all have very interesting trunks, so I think it may prove to be an interesting project. Here is a little information on the cultivars that were developed by the University of Saskatchewan if you are interested in a short read.

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/dwarfsourcherries.html

Surprisingly, there seems to be some availability in your State if you wanted to look into them as well.

If we had the time and the money to fulfill every want and dream, we'd have to live a thousand lifetimes to scratch the surface of what is available right now. I have to imagine that at some point in time there are going to be programs to develop strains that will give a world class bonsai in about 10 years of growing... without all of the grafting, chopping, wiring, and root pruning.

 

[Random User]

Here is another interesting read if you are a fan of plums and plumcherries. (From the same web site.)

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/articles/plums.pdf

 

[wireme]

Thanks for the replies... apparently there are zone 3 hardy varieties, but you've definitely shortened the list... will do more research.

Cool, let me know if you find one you can overwinter there. SK nurseries are great for cold hardy plants, if they grow there they're bomber.
Here it's not quite as bad but the odd winter can get pretty bitter too, ha, we even have got ice indoors now. It's looking like it'll be one of those years where water lines 6' down start freezing up on us.

 

[wireme]

Here is another interesting read if you are a fan of plums and plumcherries. (From the same web site.)

http://www.fruit.usask.ca/articles/plums.pdf

I've got the Nanking cherry and the western sand cherry going here. A few of each going on 15yrs in the ground, nice tough plants.

 

[sorce]

http://bonsaiunearthed.com/tag/magnolia/

Sorce

 

[Random User]

" It's looking like it'll be one of those years where water lines 6' down start freezing up on us."

If you have the snow cover we have, you're lines won't freeze where the snow is not disturbed. I'd dare say that there is less than a foot of frost where the snow cover if more than 2 feet thick... but that can vary a lot too, depending on moisture level before the freeze, wind, etc...

 

[iant]

Here is a magnolia stellata that I bought about 2 and a half years ago. The pics with buds are current. Flower is from past year.
It looks nice in winter and spring. Leaves are medium sized not huge. It's more of a potted tree than a bonsai but you could say that about many of my trees!
Ian

 

[chicago1980]

Wonderful thread. Thank you. I'm looking to have a magnolia in my collection.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I have a magnolia in my landscape with ginormous blooms. I am even growing some seedlings out to see if they will flower. I have learned to never say "never" when it comes to plant material, particularly since I am not familiar with all of the different cultivars. However I agree about the large leaves and large blooms... at least on the ones I am familiar with.

If you enjoy magnolias, make sure you also check out camellias. In my personal opinion, camellias can be quite similar in terms of the glossy evergreen leaves and stunning blooms. They are just a lot smaller and more manageable. They may be worth a look... I just planted one of these in my yard today:



Here's a camellia bonsai from @William N. Valavanis Bonsai Blog. They can be quite striking and remind me a lot of magnolias.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I have a quart size pot with second year cutting of Magnolia virginiana 'Dodd's Little Leaf'. Leaves are about one inch long, and I'm still growing it out. Have not seen it flower yet. Definitely not for SK, at best zone 6 hardy, maybe better to protect it even on zone 6.

I'm hoping that it will flower, and they will be near the size of regular M virginiana. I love the species, in part because it will flower off and on through the summer after it's spring flush of blooms.

Hard to find, especially rooted cuttings. Woodlander's Nursery in NC listed them in autumn, in the on line catalog. They sold out in less than a week. Not expensive, but they don't get many to root most years

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Another magnolia to try, I actually saw a nice one as Bonsai. Lirodendron tulipifera, the tulip poplar. Leaves have an interesting shape, a little bigger than stellata leaves. If you "go big" say 3+ foot tall, it can be nice with yellow flowers with orange splash inside. Worth checking out, and winter hardy to maybe zone 4. Still might not make it in SK.

 

[coh]

Leo, do you have a photo of the liriodendron bonsai? I've been keeping my eye out for one and haven't seen anything really worth talking about. A few years ago I planted two seedlings in my grow bed to develop to try as bonsai. One was dug and had root work done 2 (I think) years ago, then put back in the ground. It has sulked ever since, but is alive and growing...but much slower than before. The other I allowed to grow pretty large (3" trunk), then chopped it. But it then got attacked by bark beetles which destroyed the remaining trunk to the soil line

I also just repotted my Leonard Messel magnolia for the first time in 3 years. Had to remove several pounds of roots (they don't smell too great either). This was a pretty significant amount of work so we'll see how it responds. Still early in development, I think I may have started a thread about it at one time.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

Right now I'm on the farm in MI, if I can find it, the photo is on my computer in IL. I'll be home Sunday, I'll post it then, PM me if I forget.