This looks really beautiful!
I just got my first magnolia this year (coco) and can't wait for it to bloom..Another collection mania is starting!

Your patience has paid off! The tree looks very beautiful. :)

Any update on your other magnolia babies? :)

Lol fenius. Add the following 2 magnolia/michelia plants to your collection then:
michelia figo
michelia alba
;)

Thanks for the comments Fenius and Kemistry. :D

M. liliifera just finished a second bloom and it has a very unusual smell too, that I find difficult to like. Nothing like I was hoping for. None of the other mags are blooming yet besides alba and figo. But M. coco finally starting plumping its buds. Can you believe they were on there since at least December (when I purchased the plants). It's one of the slowest growing things ever and only decided to grow again when in May when the nights didn't drop below 60F.

M. coco

M. liliifera with an unusual pineapple-like smell that only lasts for a few hours in the morning. :[

Wow, I definitely need more!
..Actually I ordered a magnolia figoxdoltsopa (that was my first) from a nursery this year and it was really small and I managed to kill it.. Now I have ordered the alba and another called royal figo fron thailand which seems to be like the one I killed by the picture and I also have a champaca that arrived last week and is currently in intensive care so I'm crossing my fingers..

Fenius - did you order yours from Thailand? I'd love to see a pic of your champaca btw!

Musaboru - I dont really recommend the Egg Magnolia since the scent is so short-lived; Only a few hours; You either have to be there when it blooms or else you'll miss it.

To my nose it smells strongly of cantaloupe melon. It doesn't smell as good if I put my nose right next to the flower because of its powerful scent.

Good to see your Mag Coco again! :)

Sorry I meant to ask whether your champaca was from Thailand? The Thai seller on ebay has a dwarf champaca that I'm very curious about. :)

Can't order from him anymore, customs made my life a nightmare twice and the plants died anyway (including the dwarf champaca..) because of their delays.. I now order from another nursery in France, it's the only source for Europe that I found so far.. The dwarf from what I concluded was very similar to the one I have now- if it survives I'll post pictures as I have nothing to compare it to..
My coco is the only one looking really good so far but no buds yet..

Thanks for the update fenius! (Looking forward to see that champaca pic of yours ;) )

Im thinking of getting either that dwarf champaca or the michelia alba 'Sinuan' from him. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and get both. Lol.

If you guys are looking for something different try the Oyama-types, such as Magnolia x wieseneri, M. sieboldii or any hybrid with M. obvata. They are hardier and the fragrance seems to be highly raved about, especially M. x wieseneri.

Oh gosh, I want the Dwarf Champaca so bad. I wish some nursery in Florida would try to import Sinuan and Dwarf Champaca. I remember Top Trop had Sinuan several years ago but I couldn't afford it then. There was also Asiatica that had imported the variegated M. alba but they went out of business.

This guy is blooming again. Mother's Day.

Close up. The flowers look a bit different this year. And I think I smell that lemon scent now. I wonder if the bloom from last year was a on a sported branch.,

This post was edited by musaboru on Sun, May 12, 13 at 23:24

Great blooms musa!Does that branch have a bud this year to tell?? I just love magnolias, I got a grandiflora since last time and it's about to bloom, my others (champaca, alba, coco, sieboldii) are doing well but no buds yet..also got sinuan seeds from ebay but nothing sprouted...

Hi Musaboru,

Did you ever order any plants from Thailand? I was curious and I want to try to order one but I'm afraid about the custom of shipping. The plant that I was interested about was the magnolia sinuan. Do you think it smells good? If compare with the alba which one smells better? And another one that I was interested in was the magnolia champaca forest. Please give some info about the plant and the seller if you ever dealt with this seller.
Thanks,
Savy4

musaboru,

I want to sniff your magnolias!

Question: Is that a Dauben water lily in the half whiskey barrel?

I've got a 20 ich plastic pot that I've sealed up the drain holes whith silicone but I know that's a little small but it will do for now.

Can't wait to get mine! Should be getting it tomorrow hopefully. :)

-Robert

fenius, I am not sure which branch that came off of. Good luck with the Sinuan seeds! I'll cross my fingers for you.

savy4, I've ordered several times from that seller on eBay and they are good to deal with and honest even sending replacements if it doesn't initially survive. The major problem is the transportation is just too much for a bare-rooted magnolia to handle and customs will not be kind to your plant, especially living in California. I've imported those magnolias with the proper permits and that is still not a guarantee you will get your plants and if you do, the plant is so stressed out that it probably won't make it. So I've quit trying to import it and am just hoping for a mail-order nursery such as Logee's or Gardino's (Rareflora) to do this for us.

Robert, that is a King of Siam waterlily. He's more of a shy bloomer than Dauben, but is also fragrant. You can grow Dauben in a 5 gallon bucket, I'm sure. The more room it has, the larger the plant will get. And for some hybrids, the flowers will get larger too with more room.

Hi Musaboru,

Thank you for your honest opinion. I think that I will not order from them. Because the plant is bareroot I'm scare it might not make it like you say.

Thanks,
Savy4