Centennial Magnolia
Magnolia stellata 'Centennial'
Height: 12 feet
Spread: 12 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: 4
Description:
An ideal accent tree for smaller home landscapes, features extremely fragrant star-shaped snow-white flowers in early spring with numerous petals, upright and multi-stemmed; very hardy, although flowers are occasionally lost to late spring frosts
Ornamental Features
Centennial Magnolia is clothed in stunning fragrant white star-shaped flowers with yellow eyes and shell pink edges at the ends of the branches in early spring before the leaves. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The pointy leaves turn coppery-bronze in fall. The fruits are showy pink pods displayed in early fall.
Landscape Attributes
Centennial Magnolia is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a distinctive and refined pyramidal form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.
This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.
Centennial Magnolia is recommended for the following landscape applications;
- Accent
- Mass Planting
- Hedges/Screening
- General Garden Use
Planting & Growing
Centennial Magnolia will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 12 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 80 years or more.
This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
