Magnolia 'MAXINE MERRILL'

Maxine Merrill is a magnolia cross between m.acuminata ssp. subcordata ‚Miss Honeybee‘ and m. x loebneri ‚Merrill‘. It was bred by one of the greatest magnolia breeders Phil Savage from the USA. It produces medium-sized, cup-shaped flowers with 6 sturdy petals of soft banana yellow colour. They open from late April on a bare, well-branched shrub or a small tree of somewhat uneven habit. Deciduous leaves are ovate to obovate, medium green in summer, bronze when they emerge, and yellow in autumn.

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 you plant your magnolia. First, find it a spot where it will live forever and ever. It does not like transplanting. And 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 important top roots that absorb maximum moisture and nutrients from the soil. Also avoid planting magnolia too deep. Thus, you could be digging it a grave. Hardy is min. -29 °C (USDA zone 5) and perhaps yet a little lower.

Last update 08-12-2020