PlantFiles: Banana Shrub
Magnolia x foggii 'Allspice'

I bought this back in January or February and planted it in my parents' yard. It's significantly more cold-hardy than 9B as PlantFiles currently states; it went through New Orleans' record-cold February '11 without even the slightest leaf damage, and its (pretty, fuzzy, orangey-brown) flower buds happily grew the whole time. It was planted in a cramped spot, so today I dug it up and put it into a 24" diameter pot. It seems to be pretty rare in the trade, as I've only ever seen two for sale, and I of course wisely bought one of them, but unfortunately not the other. (The owner of that nursery, Starke's in Houma, told me that he planted one in his own yard.) The leaves are large and a perfect shade of dark, rich green, with a nice matte finish; very similar to the world-famous leaves of the Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis). Its magnolia lineage really shines through in its branching structure, buds, and leaves. The flowers are touted by many, including perfume makers/enthusiasts, as having the greatest scent of any flower on earth, and I can say that I agree. Smelling one literally sends a euphoric sensation through the whole body in a matter of nanoseconds. The scent is similar to that of Osmanthus fragrans (Sweet Olive), but even more intoxicating and overwhelming. If heroin is half as nice as the smell of this tree's flowers, then I'll have to try it someday.

Overall, I'm normally not a fan of human-created hybrid plants (or animals), and I'm an outspoken opponent of non-native plants (and animals), but one just has to make an exception for a plant as exceptional and flawlessly awesome as this one.

I was given cuttings from this plant by a friend who said she had never seen another one. She grows hers in her back yard directly behind her back porch. Her yard is semi sunni and has trees and other shrubs surrounding this 6 ft shrub. I suspect it is semi hardy here(she is in Canton, Mississippi). Hers is just budding now.