Milan Havlis - gardening

Hybridizing and crossing brings new and better varieties of magnolias that have features never seen before. Mark Jury from New Zealand continues this work that was started in 1960´s by his late father Felix. ´Atlas´ is one of his fantastic results, a cross between Magnolia 'Mark Jury' and ...

Betty’s flowers are deep purple outside and almost white inside, there are up to 19 narrow, long petals which in full bloom open like a star as much as 20 cm wide with strong citrus scent. It has attractive bright green foliage, some of which often turns coppery red in the summer ...

Another unique jewel among magnolias is this yellow flowering hybrid. It is a cross between m.denudata and m.acuminata (cucumber magnolia). It was raised by Phil Savage in Michigan, USA, in 1988 and patented three years later. Medium-sized flowers are unusual and truly gorgeous. The colour is cl ...

Among deciduous magnolias there are varieties that bloom later than most of the Asian ones. This selection named Charles Coates originated in England in Kew, famous for its Kew Gardens, by crossing m.sieboldii and m.tripetala. It makes leaves first, and only at the end of spring ...

If you like the spring profusion of blooming magnolias, look at this yellow rarity. Probably the best yellow magnolia so far was raised by a Belgian breeder, Philippe de Spoelberch. It is a cross between ´Miss Honeybee´ a ´Gold Crown´. It is called Daphne. Its flowers are deep yell ...

Another rare magnolia is this cross between magnolia acuminata var. subcordata “Miss Honeybee” and magnolia stellata. It gained flower shape fro stellata and colour from acuminate. Goldstar has medium sized flowers with 14 narrow petals, very similar to star-shape ...

This girl named Jane has cup-shaped, very fragrant flowers. Their colour is bright purple-pink on the outside and almost white inside. There are 10 tepals and fully open bloom is about 10 cm wide. The shrub is rounded like a wide tulip, somewhat regular, with branches growing upwards. Flowers alread ...

Lanarth is another breathtaking rare magnolia. It belongs to campbelli group which originated in Nepal and India. Its full name is M. campbellii subsp. mollicomata 'Lanarth'. This one, however, comes from Yunnan Province in China, where it was raised from a seed in 1924 by a famous collector George ...

This magnolia is a cross of crosses ... mathematically it is: (magnolia liliflora x magnolia cylindrica) x magnolia „Ruby“ , by August Kehr (1997). The result of this rather bizarre looking equation is an exquisite speciality which keeps up to its name and blooms all season long. ...

Satisfaction is a European novelty among magnolias from 2002. Its origin is not known, however, so far it has proven to be a real winner. Satisfaction is a small or mid-sized magnolia with mid-sized to large blossoms. The outside colour is deep burgundy red and pure white in ...

Susan magnolia has narrow, goblet-shaped flowers of deep pink, nearly red colour outside and slightly lighter red inside. This is the reddest coloured variety among spring magnolias. It flowers reliably already when young. It does not require pruning at all. As it has flower buds at the ends ...

Someone has sweet seventeen, others may have Sweet Valentine. This is the name of one the many soulangeana type magnolias. And to have this rarity at home is a true win. It is a cross between magnolias “Sweet Simplicity” and “Black Tulip”, where both plan ...

Another superb selection among magnolias is this beautiful cross between magnolia kobus and magnolia salicifolia, sometimes identified as magnolia x kewensis. It was registered in 1959 and named after Japanese botanist Koichiro Wada who helped with introduction of Japanese species to the west. It be ...

“Yellow Bird” magnolia is a cross between magnolia acuminata and magnolia brooklynensis “Evamaria” from 1967. Yet that year it was suggested the best yellow cultivar so far. Well, a lot of time has passed and these days there are a few more girls to ask t ...

This magnolia variety has only recently been imported from China, under the name Fei Huang. It is a sensational plant with large yellow flowers. It belongs to magnolia denudata (Yulan magnolia) group, however, we have not been able to search for the exact breeding details. The Chinese ...

Yulan magnolia is the most spectacular species among white flowering magnolias. The flowers are snow white and appear on bare branches in April. The bark is quite dark and offers a nice contrast to the flowers. Deciduous leaves are oval to obovate, upto 15 cm long, mid green of a shade that remai ...

A very hardy variety of southern magnolia from the USA. Exmouth, which is in leaf all year, blooms already as a young tree with gorgeous creamy white blossoms upto 30 cm wide. The new growths as well as leaf and flower buds are hairy which is supposed to increase its hardiness. And that is rated do ...

This is one of the latest varieties of spring magnolias opening its flowers in May, thus avoiding late frosts that may damage flower petals or entire buds. Nigra’s petals are dark burgundy-purple on the outside and very light purple or nearly white on the inside. The goble ...

Another beautiful variety of decidous magnolia. This variety comes from England and has pale to deep pink perfect flowers. It blooms on bare branches early in the spring . Due to shallow roots we suggest not to plant anything near the stem and mulch the magnolia well with bark. Likes slightly acidi ...

Merrill is a Lobner magnolia variety with white flowers. They are star-shaped, with a cup-shaped calyx. It has an advantage of 1-2 weeks later flowering as opposed to star magnolias (m.stellata) which can be damaged during early flowering by late night frost. Flowers appear on b ...

This rather unusual and rare variety of magnolia flowers at the end of spring, or more often beginning of summer as a fully leaved shrub. Flower buds are erect and when they open up, the cup-shaped blooms turn to side or nod down. They are pure white, up to 10 cm across, with crimson anthers. Leaves ...

Star magnolia is a one of the earliest magnolias to flower in March already. It has star-shaped, pure white flowers with a lovely scent. As it blooms on bare branches early in the spring we recommend placing it in front of an evergreen shrub, e.g. cherry laurel, holly, or any bright green con ...

Star magnolia is a one of the earliest magnolias to flower in March already if the weather is nice and warm. Rosea is a popular variety with star-shaped, light pink flowers with a lovely scent. As it blooms on bare branches early in the spring we recommend placing it in front of ...

This star magnolia has much bigger flowers than stellata, not so much in diameter but in thickness. This variety has 25-35 petals which make the bloom look larger. They are snow white, opening from pinkish buds and have a light fragrance. It flowers on bare branches one or two weeks later that stell ...

Umbrella magnolia is a unique plant of its species. It is quite unusual though easy to grow. Its main feature are exotic-looking, large leaves that can grow 30-45 cm long. Their colour is mid-green flashed with bronze from spring to early summer. They are soft and slightly hairy beneath, crow ...

Another jewel among magnolias came from New Zealand, again, and was raised by Mark Jury. Its name is Black Tulip® and has been sought after thanks to its very deep purple colour of flowers. They are rich purple in colour, not too large – only about 10-15 cm across, gob ...

Genie is a sensational new magnolia from New Zealand. After 15 years of breeding there is eventually a plant that holds its deep red-purple colour well and offers prolonged flowering period. The hybridizing process was truly awesome, if you are interested in how this jewel came ...

It was in 1826 when the very first bloom of this famous saucer magnolia came into the world. It was bred by French botanist Etienne Soulange-Bodin who 6 years before that success made a cross between m.denudata and m.liliflora. It blooms on bare branches with beautifully scented, gob ...

Alexandrina is a very popular variety of saucer magnolia. Thanks to the rich colour of outer petals it is rated commercially best-selling saucer magnolia. The flowers are upto 10 cm across, white inside, flushed deep pink and purple outside, with a lovely fragrance. Deciduou ...

We have another gorgeous variety of saucer magnolia. It is called Dorsopurpurea and even though it is not yet too well known, among collectors it belongs to one of the most sought after varieties with deeply coloured flowers. They are dark purple-red outside and only very light ...

Based on the successful crossing of saucer magnolia a new variety was bred at the end of the 19th centutry. Its name is Rustica Rubra or just Rubra and comes from the nursery town Boskoop in the Netherlands. The beautifully scented flowers are goblet- to saucer-shap ...

Profusion crab apple is a hybrid, sometimes classified as malus x moerlandsii. It comes from the Netherlands. Its main feature are dark purple-pink flowers that come out from mid to end spring in profusion. They are followed by small, spherical fruit of purplish-black colour ...

Some crab apples can easily compete with Japanese ornamental cherries as far as the beauty and colours of their flowers. This is the case of ´Royal Beauty´. It is a small tree growing about 2.5m tall, with weeping, somewhat narrow crown. In the spring it brings a profusion of deep pink to light purp ...

This crab apple is a beautiful small tree with excellent flowering in the spring. The flowers are deep pink to bright purple and are followed by non-edible dark purple-red small fruits. The leaves are small-ish as opposed to real apple, glossy, deep burgundy red throughout the season with no ...

Another charming crab apple is this variety “Van Eseltine”. At the end of April / beginning of May it produces profusion of scarlet red spherical buds on long stalks which open to semi double and double pink flowers with yellow stamens. Fruits are small ornamental red-flushed yellow appl ...

Coccinella® is a relatively new variety of crab apple. It is protected as a registered trademark and its features speak for itself. The flowers are pale to rich purple, with tints of red rather than pink as on ornamental cherries. Moreover, this selection has burgundy leaves and dark red branche ...

Malus Perpetu® is another crab apple. This variety offers snow-white flowers, very similar to those you can see on apple trees. They open from pink buds and their number is very high every year. Deciduous leaves are green, ovate, mid-sized. The best attraction is the fruit – ...

Black mulberry is a versatile plant used in ornamental landscaping as well as pomiculture. You can find it in standard forms with a long trunk, or as a half-standard which is suitable for easy fruit picking. It can also be seen grown as a shrub densely branched from the ground. Deciduous l ...

This mulberry is very special. Deeply cut, dark green, glossy leaves draw your attention as they bear strong resemblance to leaves of plane trees. Many of the largest leaves at the ends of the branches keep their green colour until late in the autumn when they fall down green. The crown is wi ...