Flowers later than the star magnolia and thus avoids frost damage to the flower buds. Exquisite, 3 to 4 inch blooms, reddish purple outside and white inside, appear before the foliage buds out.

Out of all the magnolias, the D.D. Blanchard is one of the largest varieties, producing dark green, large leaves with a rusty brown underside. It can reach a maturity height of 75-80 feet with a canopy of 35-40 feet in width, making an excellent shade tree. It is capable of maintain a straight, central trunk, which allows it to be grown full to the ground or be pruned into tree form with a visible trunk. Flowers bloom in late spring, with sparse but continued flowering throughout the summer. The fragrant blossoms are large (can be 8” in width) and are cup-shaped in appearance.

Over the first 10 years, it typically grows to 28’ tall and 8’ wide. It features tulip-shaped, fragrant yellow flowers with plum-flushed bases that bloom in early spring as the new leaves emerge.

Magnolia grandiflora is a broadleaf evergreen tree that is noted for its attractive dark green leaves and its large, extremely fragrant flowers. It typically grows tall with a pyramidal to rounded crown. 

Magnolia liliiflora 'Nigra', the black lily magnolia, is a beautiful shrub that eventually becomes a small, multi-stemmed ornamental tree. It's grown for its sumptuous, large, tulip-shaped flowers that are deep purple-red on the outside and paler on the inside. They appear later than most magnolias – mostly in late spring and early summer, then sporadically through to early autumn.

Leaves are green above and silvery-gray below. This unusual tree is rarely found in the wild, being limited mainly to a few rich wooded areas in river valleys and ravines in the southeastern United States. It is a pyramidal tree that develops a spreading rounded crown with age, typically growing 30-40’ tall. Fragrant, open, cup-shaped flowers to 8-10” (less frequently to 12”) wide bloom in May. Flowers are white with rose-purple at the petal bases. 

Magnolia tripetala has large, ovate to oblong, shiny green leaves (to 24" long and to 10" wide) of this deciduous magnolia appear in whorl-like clusters at the stem tips, purportedly resembling the spokes of an umbrella. 

Prized for its ability to withstand lower winter temperatures, it also produces fragrant, creamy white flowers at a young age. Only half as wide as tall, it fits well into landscapes as a specimen or patio tree. Deciduous in cold climates.

Magnolia × loebneri, commonly called Loebner magnolia, is a deciduous hybrid magnolia (M. kobus × M. stellata). It is a small tree typically growing to 20-30’ tall with a rounded crown. It is more often grown in a multi-trunked form that as a single trunk tree. Fragrant star-like white flowers (4-6” wide) with 10-15 petals appear in early spring before the foliage (March – April in St. Louis). Flowers give way to cone-like fruits that ripen to red in late summer, releasing individual red coated seeds suspended on slender threads at maturity. Fruits are sometimes absent on this hybrid. Obovate, medium green leaves (to 5” long). A number of hybrid cultivars are now available in commerce featuring flowers that are white, blush-pink, lilac pink or pink.

 This Magnolia is tall with a rounded crown. Flowers are pink/purple with white interiors.

Metasequoia glyptostroboides, commonly called dawn redwood, is a deciduous, coniferous tree that grows in a conical shape to 100’ tall. It is related to and closely resembles bald cypress (Taxodium) and redwood (Sequoia).