Magnolia x loebneri 'Leonard Messel'Loebner magnolia 'Leonard Messel'
A deciduous magnolia of rounded habit that is covered in March and April with starry lilac-pink flowers, paler inside, before the leaves open. The flowers stand up to late frosts better than those of most magnolias, and the plant flowers early in life and every year.
- Starry lilac-pink flowers in March and April, before the leaves
- Stands up to late frosts better than most magnolias
- Rounded habit of 5 to 8 metres, flowers early in life
About this cultivar
Magnolia × loebneri 'Leonard Messel' reaches 5 to 8 metres in height and 4 to 6 in spread, with a rounded crown and broad branching. The flowers, with 12 narrow tepals, measure 10 to 12 centimetres and are lightly scented, lilac-pink on the outside and almost white inside, which gives the tree in flower two colours at once.
It is a hybrid between Magnolia kobus and Magnolia stellata 'Rosea', raised in England, and inherits from the former its vigour and tolerance of less acidic soils, and from the latter the starry form of the flower and the restrained size.
It prefers moist, deep, acidic to neutral soils, in sun or partial shade, and a position sheltered from the wind. Once established it needs no pruning, and the leaves turn yellow in autumn.
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