PlantFiles: Saucer Magnolia, Tulip Tree
Magnolia x soulangeana

I like to give it a neutral rate. But maybe in a better and more suitable climate and in a yard without such limited space I'm sure it will get a more positive rate. In my climate there's a great chance that it will not flower without being damaged by late night frosts. Whenever this happens when it is in flower...ooohhh it looks so sad, ugly..truly a sad looking spring.. and it brings a lot of mess without having any joy to see it in flower. I have a tulip tree in my garden...It has been there when I moved in.. it has been planted by the former inhabitants. Like most Dutch city backyards my space is very limited. I think average space for Dutch city yards is about 50m2..(unless you're lucky and/or rich).. so I'm just lucky to have 200 m2. For that fact I would not have chosen to plant a tulip tree ..I would choose a small tree that bears edible fruits.. But.. hence I have it in my garden I will respect it, I will try to enjoy it as much as I can and I will take care of it. Negative for me are: it sheds a lot ...first its outer petals..next are its (relative big) flower petals..after that lots (most) of its unripened seeds..and finally it sheds its (relative big) foliage..
I have a gravel path..it keeps me busy cleaning all up..its unripened seeds are to heavy for my garden vacuum cleaner..so I have to pick them up by hand because I cannot rake it out of the gravel... When it is in flower its heavy perfume can give me headaches...But...when it is in flower ..aaaahhh ..it is a heavenly sight and all neighbours envy me..During hot spells..I know where I can find a shady spot in my south facing garden..its shed flower petals nurture the garden soil..its shed foliage shelter frost tender plants in my garden during winter...I collect most of its shed foliage in plastic bags ..pinch holes in it..and store them on a place not in sight and where rain and snow can easy reach them..sure to keep them moist..in time this gives me perfect leaf mold.
Maintaining..it does not withstand hard pruning..it will react with huge epicormic branches..prune it only if it is necessary and only little by little and directly after flowering. If you prune later there will be lesser flowers.. It's best not to prune at all.. most of its roots are at the surface so mind that when you dig in the garden.

I grow my Saucer Magnolia in an acidic, woodland type of soil, and it has been doing admirably. It grows in Sofia, Bulgaria at 2300 feet AMSL.
Has tripled in size since being planted in the ground in 2006, I think. I have never coddled it, apart from a few waterings in the heat of summer. It is in full bloom right now, for the second time in its life, and has somehow escaped being ruined by frost. Its buds open a bit later here because of the high altitude.
The only concern for me is that it is not the small tree that I purchased any longer. It is a quite wide spreading tree, and it can occupy a small garden easily in short time.
Otherwise, this is a justifiably popular flowering tree.

We planted a small 15-inch "tree" in summer 2007, and it's been neglected. Our soil is rather clay-alkaline, as well. It doubled in size in a year, then in fall 2008 a large windstorm ripped it in half. The remaining half rebounded quickly and in December it began to bloom again! No problems whatsoever with blooming, even when it was first planted it put out a few blooms. It's bloomed on and off nearly throughout the year despite a 7a climate, ice and snow storms. Maybe these people who are giving it Negative ratings need to stop trying so hard and just let it find its own way!

My magnolia in zone 5 Pennsylvania is a magnificent 25' by 25'. I call it positive because although a final frost or hard rain can take the bloom away, there are an equal number of years when we have that perfect sunny spring day and open those windows to watch the flowers and smell that heavenly fragrance. It is worth it.
My tree is protected on 3 sides, is among conifers and is in highly acidic soil at the base of a low hill that stays very wet to moist all year. We do not mow under it, it has a carpet of ground violets, and the summer shade makes it an ideal place to sit. Love this one.

I love this magnolia plant. Its wonderful! I've heard it called Japanese magnolia by the students at my college.

BEWARE: certain people can be allergic-ish to the pollen! symptoms ranged from mild headache, sneezing/runny nose, to watery eyes.

Other than that it is a rather harmless tree with magnificent flowers! They are really nice, very big pink/white flowers that are excellent for picture taking.

Ours has been planted for about 5 years in the sun, is about 6 foot tall, is growing like a bush also, and has never flowered! We have fertilized it to no avail and are very very disappointed.

My neighbor has a beautiful tree in her yard. There are many all over this area. There are 3 very old ones where I work that put on a great display every spring! Maybe they need the real cold winters that we have up here in zone 4!

Tree has a great form, and hundreds of beautiful flowers. Why A negative? The tree starts blooming and all of a sudden we have a cold snap. Then you see it the next day the flowers have turned to brown mush. Out of the 18 years of having this tree only 6 winters spared its flowers. It is about 25 Ft. This fall I've noticed huge splits on every main branch and the main trunk. I'll update spring 2008. I think it will bloom and then die.

A mature tree blooming in late February is a sight to behold. It really cheers the winter gardener waiting for spring. True it gets nipped sometimes, but nothing says "spring" like a saucer magnolia in full bloom.

I've planted these 'Tulip Trees' here in zone 7b. Once they're established they can take up neglect. I planted 3 of these on a property in 80's. 2 under big oaks' shade and one in full sun. The one on full sun is proprtionately bigger and bloomed more profusely. And yes, some year they suffer from late frosts, as it does happen quite often here. But when these gems are in its full blooms. Behold; beauty and pure. The rest of the growing season. It's not too showy, but what can beat the winter blues when Saucer Magnolia are there to shout out "Spring is near".

In my neighborhood I've watched quite a few of these trees rapidly grow from small pot plantings to large trees (10 years) and they are fabulous! They always bloom profusely right after the last frost and then shower the ground with petals which can wait a bit before being picked up - they're pretty. The leaves are large and bright green - very attractive and distinctive. I've never seen the problems that other posters have indicated. Maybe my hardiness zone is better for them, even though it's colder.

I agree with the previous statement about this tree blooming too early. I have even seen them starting to bloom in the fall after shedding its leaves, only to have the frost get them. While the tree may be pretty in bloom, I think its just an ugly tree the rest of the year. The foliage is a light green which always looks like it has chlorosis. Plus, it looks more like a bush than a tree.

I'm actaully giving this beautiful tree a negative rating because of its propensity to bloom suicidally before the last frost. Years of failure due to late frosts have been written from 1 in five to 1 in 3 years. I would also not give it a negative rating were there not a grand range of new cultivars that bloom just late enough to miss turning into a spring tree of brown rags. But ther are many out there. I do give it credit for being adaptable to extreme, even dry, soils, and being a bloomer at a very young age.

This is a tree for patient and forgiving gardeners unlike myself; dug mine up (gave it away) and supplanted it with a different Magnolia.

About 10 years ago I found an unusual M. soulangiana, all purple flowers, in a batch of the species. The tree has thrived in central Virginia and will put on a second bloom in late June-July when the tree is fully leafed out. The flowers are dark purple-rose inside and out.

In our climate the early first bloom is usually caught by a frost so the second set of blooms, while not as showey, is very nice.

The tree has grown into a bushy 15 feet, branched to the ground, in ten years from a 3-gallon pot.

Not fragrant.

Saucer magnolia is a beautiful small tree in my yard although I have seen a very large one in the Fort Worth botanical garden.
It blooms in late February in this zone and some years it does freeze while in bloom which damages the flowers and the wood, nevertheless I love it because of the beauty it brings early in the year.

Absolutely stunning in spring, though the flowers don't last as long as one would like. The flowers can be 4-5 inches across and have white to pink coloration from the center outward to the tip of the petal.

Our tree had another tree fall on it just before we moved into our house and, although it has recovered nicely, the shape of the tree will never be the same. It seemed to send up "suckers" from the existing branches.

The common name "Tulip Tree" is a misnomer. M. soulangiana is a deciduous tree, with beautiful pink blossoms in early spring, before leafing out.

Plant in a protected spot, ideally with partial sun and good air flow to prevent disease. This shrub is a beautiful harbinger of spring in any garden, although the blooming may be sporadic in colder climates, where a late frost is likely.