Magnolia ashei x macrophylla

Magnolia ashei x macrophylla is a rare hybrid of colossal foliage and dinner-plate blooms, a deliberate cross between two of North America's most dramatic native magnolias: the endangered Ashe magnolia, Magnolia ashei, and the bigleaf magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla. The pairing brings together the best of both parents, the immense tropical-looking leaves, the breathtaking flowers, and a habit that strikes a handsome balance between shrub and small tree.

The hybrid was first raised by Dr. Fred Meyer at the United States National Arboretum, and remains uncommon in gardens. The genus Magnolia honors Pierre Magnol, the seventeenth-century French botanist, and both parents belong to the group of American bigleaf magnolias famous for the largest simple leaves of any tree on the continent. Leaves on this cross can pass two feet in length, building a bold, architectural silhouette that lends a primeval air to a shaded garden corner.

In late spring and early summer the branches carry huge, fragrant, creamy-white flowers marked with purple at the base of the petals, blooms that rival any exotic for sheer scale. By late summer the flowers give way to large, slightly elongated, cone-like fruits that color and open to feed wildlife. In habit the hybrid grows between the parents, more upright and tree-like than the shrubby Ashe magnolia, yet nowhere near as towering as the bigleaf, settling in around twenty-five to thirty-five feet.

This is a plant of presence and poise, at its best as a specimen or a focal point in a sheltered, richly planted shade garden. Give rich, moist, well-drained soil and protection from wind, since the enormous leaves tear in a gale, and site the magnolia where the vast foliage and flowers can be admired at close range. A mature specimen at Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, South Carolina, stands as a living testament to what this uncommon hybrid can become in a Southern garden.