Magnolia 'FELIX' (Felix Jury)

Felix magnolia, also called Felix Jury, is a recent introduction by Mark Jury, and a gorgeous hybrid named after his late father who fortunately lived to see its first flowers, but not its worldwide success a few years later. It was made in 1984 as a cross between extremely large-flowered Atlas and deep burgundy-purple flowering Vulcan. Felix magnolia was released in 2004 and patented as JURmag2.

Felix magnolia bears large, goblet-shaped flowers that are up to 30 cm across. Their colour is beautiful rosy pink to soft purple red, both inside and outside. The flowers have a strong and sweet perfume and last for as long as 9 days which gives the whole plant an unusually long blooming time of almost 3 weeks. They appear on bare wood before the leaves and thanks to their unique colour and large size they look like a flock of super-sized primeval butterflies with oval wings, sitting on a tree with no leaves.

Felix produces green, deciduous leaves that are lighter than on most magnolia varieties. It forms a slender shrub or a small tree of a compact shape with good branching structure and many flowers. Its mature size in continental Europe is expected to reach 3,5-4m. Magnolias are not supposed to be pruned. You can prune old shrubs if ill, or trim them to shape or to reduce size, or make an elementary cut to young plants of unsightly or unhealthy appearance. Do this as soon as possible after flowering to secure setting of flower buds for the following year. Be aware that each magnolia can respond differently to pruning.

Deciduous magnolias are quite easy plants. All they need is light, well-drained, acidic soil with equal moisture throughout the year. Once established they can do with occasional drought but will not look as nice as the ones with regular watering. Just pay attention to how to plant your magnolia. First, find it a spot where it will live forever and ever. It does not like transplanting. As it makes shallow roots reaching well over its spread stay away from disturbing the roots by digging or messing about around it. Just cover the soil with bark mulch and do not plant anything else near it after say the second year after planting onwards. You could damage the very important top roots that absorb maximum moisture and nutrients from the soil. Also avoid planting magnolia too deep. Thus you could be digging its grave. Expected hardiness in continental climate is min.-25°C (USDA zone 5b).

Last update 04-03-2012