Magnolia campbellii 'LANARTH' magnolia

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 Forrest.

It has extremely large flowers, open wide they are up to 30 cm across. Their colour is cyclamen pink which is quite a conspicuous, sharp pink or purple-red, a little deeper towards the margins. It flowers in the first magnolia phase but later than stellatas. Deciduous leaves are oblong-elliptic, mid green and appear after flowering. Lanarth has upright, quite regular, pyramidal growth.

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. 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 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. It is fully hardy to approx. -27°C (USDA zone 5b).

Last update 08-02-2009