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Nursery Notes: Magnolias bloom in variety of colours

A brief glance around the nursery reveals a lot of really new flowers the heat has finally drawn from the plants...

A brief glance around the nursery reveals a lot of really new flowers the heat has finally drawn from the plants. What a relief to finally get a good stretch of weather!

If you were to walk into our nursery this morning you would see four kinds of magnolias in flower. The Cranbrook-hardy white star-shaped “Royal Star” and its cousin, the “Leonard Messel”, having a pink star-shaped flower, make a really nice sized ornamental tree for a residential lot. Slightly smaller are the “Susan” magnolias, reaching a mere eight feet tall and four feet wide. The dark magenta flowers are a real hit with the public. Also having the large tulip shaped flowers, but referred to as a saucer magnolia, in a more subdued colour is the magnolia “Alexandrina”. This medium sized tree grows to a mature size of 25 feet, flowers later than the other varieties and has a fairly tropical looking leaf. It is hardy to zone 5.

Around the corner, the bright yellow flowering forsythias are about finished blooming for the season. On items that sell out each spring, new plants that arrive are on an earlier spring schedule than the Creston Valley. That is to say that some items in the nursery are more advanced in their flowering than the ones around town. The forsythia in the front yard is all in full bloom. They are the heralds of spring.

Sometimes plants that are used for display purposes are more advanced in their flowering as well. A few days inside for the quilt or home and garden show can really advance the plants due to the heat they are exposed to inside. We have double flowering plum on the front displays in full bloom. They were at the quilt show hence the more open flowers. They are hardy to Edmonton. Their flowers cover their stems from top to bottom. I think they would make a nice hedge, screen or garden specimen.

New in stock this year is a re-blooming lilac “Boomerang”. They are smaller shrubs, growing to four or five feet. They have a miniature leaf, a great fragrance and make a super nice cut flower. Also in flower are the prairie hardy Nanking cherries in bloom well before the local cherry orchards. Flowering plum trees are also in flower now. “Thundercloud” have a nice light single pink flower, fragrance and dark purple leaves. It grows to about 20 feet high and wide and is hardy to zone 5. They make a nice ornamental tree. Given that it is illegal for us to sell or plant Japanese flowering cherries in the Creston or Okanagan valleys, flowering plums make a great alternative choice. This is because the ornamental cherries may harbor the little cherry disease and not express any symptoms. This disease, a virus, could potentially wipe out the revived cherry industry. The ornamental flowering crabapples and hawthorne trees will also make great substitutes for the ornamental cherries but as of yet they haven't flowered.

Well, as the weather continues to warm the soil, now looks to be the time to plant. While there is always an outside risk of frost even to the beginning of June, the next few weeks look very promising. I hope to see you out enjoying the new look in the nursery.

Evan and Wendy Davies own Beltane Nursery at 2915 Highway 3 in Erickson.