Magnolia large-flowered: description and cultivation

Almost every tree a man has adapted to use for his own purposes. Some give it fruits, others - wood. But the large-flowered magnolia (its photos are presented in the article), a tree that is already 140 million years old, offers nothing to man, except beauty.

Magnolias number more than seventy species. Some of them are evergreen, others drop leaves. They can grow in the form of a tree and a tall bush. In the wild are common in America, East Asia, Indonesia. In our region, without sheltering magnolia, large-flowered plants grow in the south. In the middle latitudes it requires a special shelter in winter.

Description

The height of the tree is about 20 meters, and some specimens reach 30 meters. The crown is wide, pyramidal or spherical. Leaves petiolate, thick, dense, resembling leaves of ficus.

The flowers are large or very large, their diameter reaches 20 cm. They are placed on tops of branches one at a time. Color - white, cream, pink, red, purple, lilac.

In our latitudes only a few of the 120 varieties that we have, which have a large-flowered magnolia, grow. Growing it at home - it's pretty troublesome, but affordable for enthusiasts.

Reproduction

Large-flowered magnolia reproduces:

• Seeds;
• Cuttings and layers;
• Vaccination.

It is easy to get magnolia seedlings by layers. Having ducked the branch and sprinkled it with earth, in a year or two dig up a strong seedling with a developed root system.

It is more difficult to propagate by cuttings. To do this, put them in the greenhouse and maintain a constant temperature regime and humidity.

Seed sowing

Seeds are extracted from the shell and sown in September in peat soil. Place in a cool place where the temperature keeps from 0 to 6 degrees, and wait a year, and even more, without forgetting to control the moisture of the ground.

Some persistent varieties are sown directly into the ground, covered with a layer of leaves. These seedlings will be more resistant to frost.

Germinated plants are planted in a separate bowl and placed in a place protected from the cold. In the first year they grow very slowly, the leaves begin to form only in the summer. In autumn, with the beginning of the rains, they start to grow faster, thinking that it's time for the monsoons to come. In winter, the pots are hidden from frost, while those growing in the ground are covered.

The root system of plants increases, because they are transplanted every year into larger dishes.

At the age of three, the magnolia is planted in open ground. It is better to do it in late autumn, in October. It is necessary that the root is closed. The size of the pit for planting is three times the volume of the root.

Tsveli magnolia reads for the fourth to the tenth year, depending on the conditions of growth. In the first years of life, it is very susceptible to a drop in temperature. Further it can withstand frosts down to -20 ° C.

The shoots are transplanted at two years of age into pots and kept in a greenhouse.

The soil

Magnolia large-flowered grows well on light, fertile soils. Does not like calcareous soils. On them, she gets sick with chlorosis, from which the leaves turn yellow, and the flowers stop forming. To remedy the situation, it is necessary to mix peat into the soil. Almost does not grow magnolia on both heavy and sandy soils.

Magnolia large-flowered prefers solar (medium latitudes), sometimes slightly shaded (south) places. She does not like wind and drafts.

Care

Magnolia requires a lot of moisture. It should be watered from spring to autumn. To facilitate this procedure, the soil around the tree is mulched with coniferous needles, pieces of bark, leaves, peat height of not less than five centimeters. Close the ring with a radius of up to a meter. The stalk is left free, so that the trunk does not damage fungal diseases.

Trimming

Magnolia is practically not circumcised. Remove only dry branches and those that grow inside the crown.

Frozen branches are cut to healthy tissues and cover with garden gauze.

Shelter

Two layers of sacking protect the trunk from frost. But you need to do this carefully, so as not to break branches. Late in the autumn, cover the near-barrel circle. Previously, this should not be done, because there will be a mouse.

Pests

• Mice are the worst enemies of the magnolia, gnawing at the root collar.
• Moles damage the roots.
• A spider mite sits at the bottom of the leaf, pulls out the juices from it, and the leaf disappears.

Fertilizer

In the spring, nitrogen fertilizers are introduced , in the summer - phosphorus-potassium fertilizers . At the same time, nitrogen is not introduced so that young stems do not start to grow. After all, they still will not ripen until the winter and freeze.

Varieties

Winterproof:

• Magnolia Kobus. Height - up to 12 m. Interesting pyramidal crown, which over the years becomes spherical. A hardy tree that blooms for the thirtieth year of life with white flowers with a purple base. In autumn, leaves from dark green become yellow-brown.
• Magnolia stellate - shrub up to 6 m in height. Flowers are white, with a pink tint, with comparatively thin petals. They smell very nice. Blooms very early.
• Magnolia Lebner (a hybrid of the previous two).
• Zybold - frost-resistant magnolia, withstands the cold to 30 degrees.

Relatively winter-hardy:

• Magnolia Sulange - a tree 10 meters high, in April it blooms in purple flowers up to 25 cm in diameter, resembling a tulip in shape. Withstands up to 18 degrees below zero.
• Magnolia large-flowered The night is gentle growing in the Crimea and the south of the Caucasus. Its height can reach fifteen meters. Blooms all summer, from May to September inclusive. Flowers of the Magnolia The night is tender milky-white, fragrant. In diameter, they reach twelve centimeters. In the autumn red fruits ripen, which, however, do not eat.

Using

Magnolia large-flowered decorate any garden. Use it to decorate parks, having one by one or groups, complemented by various bushes.

Magnolia leaves contain alkaloids, flavonoids and other useful compounds. Preparations from them help to reduce pressure and treat hypertension in the initial stages, as well as rheumatism and diseases of the digestive tract.

Infusion of magnolia leaves is used to wash hair when they fall out.