Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’


Magnolia ‘Porcelain Dove’

This picture was taken in Greenwich at a private garden I visited a few weeks ago. It has a great collection of plants and a lot of tropicals. Here is a blurb I found on the net about ‘Porcelain Dove’:
magnoliasociety.org

“[M. globosa, M. virginiana var. australis], cv. (Callaway, Dorothy J. The World of Magnolias, p. 225, 1994). ‘This hybrid was created by the late D. Todd Gresham in 1965 at his home, Hill of Doves, in Santa Cruz, California. ... ‘Procelain Dove’ was selected and named by Tom and Bill Dodd from hybrids Gresham shipped to their nursery in Semmes, Alabama. The leaves are much like those of M. virginiana and are semievergreen (Gresham must have used M. virginiana var. australis in his cross, although he did not list it as such). The flowers also resemble those of M. virginiana but are larger and quite fragrant. This hybrid received its name for its porcelain-white flower color and in honor of Todd Gresham's home, Hill of Doves. Named in 1986.’ (M. globosa x M. virginiana).”

It is from this book, which looks like a great reference on Magnolias:

The World of Magnolias



Here is Nimbo the garden cat. He is funny, he follows you around out in the garden stopping every once and awhile to stalk something. I miss having a cat.

9 comments:

Ki said...

Wow, beautiful and fragrant too. I should look for this tree. Since it was crossed with the M. virginiana I wonder if the scent closely resembles it. Did you sniff it?

Nimbo looks like a great outdoor cat and surprisingly the same color as the magnolia.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flower and beautiful cat! Taking a trip to the animal shelter will cure you quickly of not having a cat. ;) They are too cute to pass up!

Annie in Austin said...

All magnolias are lovely, but that one looks like a particularly beautiful flower - echoing Ki - did you check out the fragrance, DFP?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Ki and Annie,

I didn't try and smell the flower. That is something I forget to do sometimes when my mind is on trying to get a good picture. Ki, it would be a handsome plant for the garden. How do you leave comments that aren't emailed to me? You are special as everybody else's are. I don't always see them right away.

misti,
hey, thanks for leaving a comment. How goes it down in Florida?

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

Nimbo is as beautiful as the magnolia!

Digital Flower Pictures said...

igw, I guess they do go together. Nimbo was fun because after we had walked around and were sitting down he had to come over and stretch out with us.

RUTH said...

I wish I had room for a magnolia...did toy with the idea of a Stellata at one point. Nimbo certainly looks a contented cat.

Jill said...

Great shot of the magnolia bloom!

Digital Flower Pictures said...

Ruth,
Stellata is a lot smaller than most. Here you really have to watch out for early frosts with them. Be careful if they tell you it is a dwarf magnolia. Mine is now huge!

Jill,
thanx