Lily of the Valley Botanic

I know I haven't posted for a long time; the reason is that I am pursuing a Master's in International Education and have been very busy. However, currently, I am writing my thesis which will be done in July. After I graduate, I promise, I’ll be posting more often.

During Spring break, I traveled to La Vega, a town near Bogota, Colombia. This country is located in the equatorial tropics which leads to a diverse topography with a variety of climates
and ecosystems. Colombia is the only country in South America with the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Thanks to its wide variety of landscapes and weather, it is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity and a great variety of bird species In the world. Colombia has around 1500 exclusive plant species ( not found in any country in the world) 4819 types of moss and 1641 ferns and related species.

Hello, Lily of the Valley lovers:

I know I haven't posted for a long time; the reason is that I am pursuing a Master's in International Education, and have been very busy. However, currently, I am writing my thesis which will be done in July. After I graduate, I promise, I’ll be posting more often.

During Spring break, I traveled to La Vega, a town near Bogota, Colombia. This country is located in the equatorial tropics which leads to a diverse topography with a variety of climates
and ecosystems. Colombia is the only country in South America with the Pacific and Caribbean coasts. Thanks to its wide variety of landscapes and weather, it is one of the countries with the highest biodiversity and a great variety of bird species In the world. Colombia has around 1500 exclusive plant species ( not found in any country in the world) 4819 types of moss and 1641 ferns and related species.

Colombia is also rich in Orchids, with approximately 4270 species. Most of the Colombian orchid species diversity are epiphytes (plants that live on the bark of other trees.)
Cattleya Trianae ( Christmas orchid/flor de May) is Colombia's national flower.

The Wax Palm, Ceroxylon quindiuense is an endangered endemic species of Colombia. It is also the national tree and the star of one of the most beautiful and emblematic landscapes of the Colombian Andes.

Here are some pictures of my trip.

Hello:

I want to share my Christmas tree with all you. I think this a great alternative to have a beautiful tree that you can reuse every year without the need to recourse to artificial trees or natural trees that in some cases can carry allergens. Also, it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to get together on a creative project. Fernando and Mateo built the tree out of scrap wood, I painted it and made the star out of wire then I wrapped it with golden garland.

Now you have plenty of time to collect scrap wood and practice before Christmas 2022. :0

Sunflowers in Literature:

Hi Flower lovers, I want to share with you this short poem by British Poet William Blake - 1757-1827

Ah! Sunflower

Ah! sunflower, weary of time,
Who countest the steps of the sun,
Seeking after that sweet golden clime
Where the traveller’s journey is done;Where the youth pined away with desire,
And the pale virgin shrouded in snow,
Arise from their graves and aspire;
Where my sunflower wishes to go.

Sunflowers in Artworks:

Sunflower by Gustav Klimt, 1907 oil on canvas.

Sunflowers in Greek Mythology:

The ancient Greek myth of Apollo and Clytie is one explanation of why sunflowers turn towards the sun. In this story Clytie, a nymph, adored Apollo, the sun of god. They loved each other but one day Apollo saw the beautiful princess Leucothow and he instantly fell in love with her. One night Clytie discovered Apollo and Leucothoe together and told Lecuothe’s father, out of jealousy. As a result, Leucothoe was buried alive at her father’s order because he did not allow her to see Apollo. Apollo, out of grief, turned Clytie into a sunflower to avoid having to look at her again.

Who wouldn't love to have a bunch of sunflowers in your home? I personally love to have them in my kitchen. No flower can lift someone’s spirit quite like sunflowers. They are beautiful with brilliant yellow petals to red.
The sunflower’s name comes from its tendency to face the sun. Helianthus, is a genus of plants comprising approximately 70 species. Helianthus is rooted in two Greek words — “helios” meaning sun and “anthos” meaning flower. When sunflowers are growing, they follow the sun but stop once they begin blooming and by the time they are mature, they typically face east.

Bird of Paradise in Literature:
Bird of Paradise poem by J. P. Narain
The lust for divine love in paradise,
Could not bring from heavens to the earth,
the birds of paradise sing the divine love song,
but they tend to soar away in deep blue skies.

With the heart aching for the melancholy love,
I planted my bird of paradise plant in my backyard,
The little plant had only one blossomed flower,
Missed the flock which it usually domiciles in.

Every morning, I open my window to the back yard,
The bird of paradise stands in the middle of other flowers,
the roses, petunias glow in sun, the beak of the bird of paradise just follows the sun,
It follows the sun from dusk to dawn, I adore this divine love act from the bottom of my heart.

With its beak pointing towards sun, head crowned with beautiful yellow and purple leaves,
Thinking it may be crane, the hummingbird flies around, sits on its beak, feels its love,
the beauty is overwhelming, the aura is divine,
If the birds of paradise see its flowery match, they may change their mind and stay with us on earth.

Bird of Paradise in Artworks:

Bird of Paradise by Chilean artist Olga Tretyak.

The bird of paradise represents faithfulness, love, and thoughtfulness — making it the perfect romantic gift.
In Hawaii, the bird of paradise grows wild and is a significant part of the culture. In Hawaiian, the name means “Little Globe” and represents magnificence.
The bird of paradise is the official flower for a ninth wedding anniversary and also represent having a good perspective on life.

Birds of paradise are pollinated by sunbirds. This plant is commonly grown as an ornamental flower. They were first discovered in 1773 in gardens in Europe. The plant grows in sunny and warm areas. Most of these flowers are grown in the United States and Australia. The bird of paradise is known as the ultimate symbol of paradise and freedom. Due to its tropical nature, this flower also symbolizes freedom and joy

Bird of Paradise blooms from September through May.

The species S. nicolai is the largest in the genus, reaching 33 feet tall, S. caudata which is a tree smaller than nicolai reaches about 20 feet tall; the other three species typically reach 6.6 to 11.5 feet tall.

Although birds of paradise are best known for their bright orange and blue colors, their flowers can also be white and blue and completely white. Hard to find, though

Hi flower lovers, I hope you're all enjoying the summer as much as I am enjoying it. I want to introduce you to this beautiful and exotic flower, the bird of paradise.
Strelitzia is a genus of five species of perennial plants. The common name of the genus is bird of paradise flower/plant because of a resemblance of its flowers to birds-of-paradise. This exotic flower is native to South Africa. It belongs to the plant family Strelitziaceae. In South Africa it is commonly known as a crane flower and is featured on the reverse of the 50 cent coin. It is the floral emblem of the City of Los Angeles.

Lilac in Music:

I present to you this beautiful piece of music that might make you cry tears of joy. Sergei Rachmaninoff - Lilacs Op. 21 No. 5 for solo piano (1900-1902)
Lyrics: Ekaterina Andreyena Beketova (1855-1892)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYsf6Uo8Cw&list=RD1AYsf6Uo8Cw&start_radio=1&t=0

Rachmaninov - Song op. 21, n° 5 "Lilacs" (Сирень) Lyrics: Ekaterina Andreyena Beketova (1855-1892) http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=2340&Transliterate=1

Lilacs in Literature:

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, a poem by Walt Whitman, 1819-1892
Whitman wrote this emotional poem as an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated. The lilacs represent the cycle of growth, life, death, rebirth, and love.

1
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d,
And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,
I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.

2
powerful western fallen star!
shades of night—O moody, tearful night!
great star disappear’d—O the black murk that hides the star!
cruel hands that hold me powerless—O helpless soul of me!
harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul.

3
In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash’d palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.

4
In the swamp in secluded recesses,
A shy and hidden bird is warbling a song.

Solitary the thrush,
The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements,
Sings by himself a song.

Song of the bleeding throat,
Death’s outlet song of life, (for well dear brother I know,
If thou wast not granted to sing thou would’st surely die.)

5
Over the breast of the spring, the land, amid cities,
Amid lanes and through old woods, where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris,
Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes, passing the endless grass,
Passing the yellow-spear’d wheat, every grain from its shroud in the dark-brown fields uprisen,
Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards,
Carrying a co**se to where it shall rest in the grave,
Night and day journeys a coffin.

6
Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop’d flags with the cities draped in black,
With the show of the States themselves as of crape-veil’d women standing,
With processions long and winding and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit, with the silent sea of faces and the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong and solemn,
With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour’d around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs—where amid these you journey,
With the tolling tolling bells’ perpetual clang,
Here, coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac.

7
(Nor for you, for one alone,
Blossoms and branches green to coffins all I bring,
For fresh as the morning, thus would I chant a song for you O sane and sacred death.

All over bouquets of roses,
O death, I cover you over with roses and early lilies,
But mostly and now the lilac that blooms the first,
Copious I break, I break the sprigs from the bushes,
With loaded arms I come, pouring for you,
For you and the coffins all of you O death.)

8
O western orb sailing the heaven,
Now I know what you must have meant as a month since I walk’d,
As I walk’d in silence the transparent shadowy night,
As I saw you had something to tell as you bent to me night after night,
As you droop’d from the sky low down as if to my side, (while the other stars all look’d on,)
As we wander’d together the solemn night, (for something I know not what kept me from sleep,)
As the night advanced, and I saw on the rim of the west how full you were of woe,
As I stood on the rising ground in the breeze in the cool transparent night,
As I watch’d where you pass’d and was lost in the netherward black of the night,
As my soul in its trouble dissatisfied sank, as where you sad orb,
Concluded, dropt in the night, and was gone.

9
Sing on there in the swamp,
O singer bashful and tender, I hear your notes, I hear your call,
I hear, I come presently, I understand you,
But a moment I linger, for the lustrous star has detain’d me,
The star my departing comrade holds and detains me.

10
O how shall I warble myself for the dead one there I loved?
And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone?
And what shall my perfume be for the grave of him I love?

Sea-winds blown from east and west,
Blown from the Eastern sea and blown from the Western sea, till there on the prairies meeting,
These and with these and the breath of my chant,
I’ll perfume the grave of him I love.

11
O what shall I hang on the chamber walls?
And what shall the pictures be that I hang on the walls,
To adorn the burial-house of him I love?

Pictures of growing spring and farms and homes,
With the Fourth-month eve at sundown, and the gray smoke lucid and bright,
With floods of the yellow gold of the gorgeous, indolent, sinking sun, burning, expanding the air,
With the fresh sweet herbage under foot, and the pale green leaves of the trees prolific,
In the distance the flowing glaze, the breast of the river, with a wind-dapple here and there,
With ranging hills on the banks, with many a line against the sky, and shadows,
And the city at hand with dwellings so dense, and stacks of chimneys,
And all the scenes of life and the workshops, and the workmen homeward returning.

12
Lo, body and soul—this land,
My own Manhattan with spires, and the sparkling and hurrying tides, and the ships,
The varied and ample land, the South and the North in the light, Ohio’s shores and flashing Missouri,
And ever the far-spreading prairies cover’d with grass and corn.

Lo, the most excellent sun so calm and haughty,
The violet and purple morn with just-felt breezes,
The gentle soft-born measureless light,
The miracle spreading bathing all, the fulfill’d noon,
The coming eve delicious, the welcome night and the stars,
Over my cities shining all, enveloping man and land.

13
Sing on, sing on you gray-brown bird,
Sing from the swamps, the recesses, pour your chant from the bushes,
Limitless out of the dusk, out of the cedars and pines.

Sing on dearest brother, warble your reedy song,
Loud human song, with voice of uttermost woe.

O liquid and free and tender!
O wild and loose to my soul—O wondrous singer!
You only I hear—yet the star holds me, (but will soon depart,)
Yet the lilac with mastering odor holds me.

14
Now while I sat in the day and look’d forth,
In the close of the day with its light and the fields of spring, and the farmers preparing their crops,
In the large unconscious scenery of my land with its lakes and forests,
In the heavenly aerial beauty, (after the perturb’d winds and the storms,)
Under the arching heavens of the afternoon swift passing, and the voices of children and women,
The many-moving sea-tides, and I saw the ships how they sail’d,
And the summer approaching with richness, and the fields all busy with labor,
And the infinite separate houses, how they all went on, each with its meals and minutia of daily usages,
And the streets how their throbbings throbb’d, and the cities pent—lo, then and there,
Falling upon them all and among them all, enveloping me with the rest,
Appear’d the cloud, appear’d the long black trail,
And I knew death, its thought, and the sacred knowledge of death.

Then with the knowledge of death as walking one side of me,
And the thought of death close-walking the other side of me,
And I in the middle as with companions, and as holding the hands of companions,
I fled forth to the hiding receiving night that talks not,
Down to the shores of the water, the path by the swamp in the dimness,
To the solemn shadowy cedars and ghostly pines so still.

And the singer so shy to the rest receiv’d me,
The gray-brown bird I know receiv’d us comrades three,
And he sang the carol of death, and a verse for him I love.

From deep secluded recesses,
From the fragrant cedars and the ghostly pines so still,
Came the carol of the bird.

And the charm of the carol rapt me,
As I held as if by their hands my comrades in the night,
And the voice of my spirit tallied the song of the bird.

Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later delicate death.

Prais’d be the fathomless universe,
For life and joy, and for objects and knowledge curious,
And for love, sweet love—but praise! praise! praise!
For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding death.

Dark mother always gliding near with soft feet,
Have none chanted for thee a chant of fullest welcome?
Then I chant it for thee, I glorify thee above all,
I bring thee a song that when thou must indeed come, come unfalteringly.

Approach strong deliveress,
When it is so, when thou hast taken them I joyously sing the dead,
Lost in the loving floating ocean of thee,
Laved in the flood of thy bliss O death.

From me to thee glad serenades,
Dances for thee I propose saluting thee, adornments and feastings for thee,
And the sights of the open landscape and the high-spread sky are fitting,
And life and the fields, and the huge and thoughtful night.

The night in silence under many a star,
The ocean shore and the husky whispering wave whose voice I know,
And the soul turning to thee O vast and well-veil’d death,
And the body gratefully nestling close to thee.

Over the tree-tops I float thee a song,
Over the rising and sinking waves, over the myriad fields and the prairies wide,
Over the dense-pack’d cities all and the teeming wharves and ways,
I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee O death.

15
To the tally of my soul,
Loud and strong kept up the gray-brown bird,
With pure deliberate notes spreading filling the night.

Loud in the pines and cedars dim,
Clear in the freshness moist and the swamp-perfume,
And I with my comrades there in the night.

While my sight that was bound in my eyes unclosed,
As to long panoramas of visions.

And I saw askant the armies,
I saw as in noiseless dreams hundreds of battle-flags,
Borne through the smoke of the battles and pierc’d with missiles I saw them,
And carried hither and yon through the smoke, and torn and bloody,
And at last but a few shreds left on the staffs, (and all in silence,)
And the staffs all splinter’d and broken.

I saw battle-co**ses, myriads of them,
And the white skeletons of young men, I saw them,
I saw the debris and debris of all the slain soldiers of the war,
But I saw they were not as was thought,
They themselves were fully at rest, they suffer’d not,
The living remain’d and suffer’d, the mother suffer’d,
And the wife and the child and the musing comrade suffer’d,
And the armies that remain’d suffer’d.

16
Passing the visions, passing the night,
Passing, unloosing the hold of my comrades’ hands,
Passing the song of the hermit bird and the tallying song of my soul,
Victorious song, death’s outlet song, yet varying ever-altering song,
As low and wailing, yet clear the notes, rising and falling, flooding the night,
Sadly sinking and fainting, as warning and warning, and yet again bursting with joy,
Covering the earth and filling the spread of the heaven,
As that powerful psalm in the night I heard from recesses,
Passing, I leave thee lilac with heart-shaped leaves,
I leave thee there in the door-yard, blooming, returning with spring.

I cease from my song for thee,
From my gaze on thee in the west, fronting the west, communing with thee,
O comrade lustrous with silver face in the night.

Yet each to keep and all, retrievements out of the night,
The song, the wondrous chant of the gray-brown bird,
And the tallying chant, the echo arous’d in my soul,
With the lustrous and drooping star with the countenance full of woe,
With the holders holding my hand nearing the call of the bird,
Comrades mine and I in the midst, and their memory ever to keep, for the dead I loved so well,
For the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days and lands—and this for his dear sake,
Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul,
There in the fragrant pines and the cedars dusk and dim.

Lilacs in Artworks:

Lilacs have been a motif of inspiration for artist throughout history. Henri Matisse, 1914 depicted the beauty of lilacs. Oil on canvas.

Lilacs in Artworks:

Lovers among Lilacs by Marc Chagall, 1930

Lilac Symbolism and Colors

Lilac meanings vary throughout different cultures and time periods.
The Celtics regarded the lilac as “magical” due to their exquisite fragrance.
During the Victorian Age, the giving of a lilac was meant to be a reminder of an old love. Widows were often seen wearing lilacs during this period.
In Russia, holding a sprig of lilac over the newborn would bring wisdom.
In the United States, the lilac is the official state flower of New Hampshire and represents the ‘hardy’ nature of its people.

White lilacs symbolize purity and innocence.
Violet lilacs symbolize spirituality.
Blue lilacs symbolize happiness and tranquility.
Magenta lilacs symbolize love and passion.
Lilac, the color for which this flower is named, is a light purple that symbolizes a first love.

Although various colors of lilacs have different meanings, the lilac has always had a strong association with love and romance throughout history.

Lilacs Flower in Greek Mythology:

Lilacs have a deep rooted history in ancient Greek mythology. It was said that Pan, the god of forest was hopelessly in love with a nymph named Syringa. One day he was chasing her through a forest and she, afraid of him, turned herself into a lilac shrub to disguise herself. To Pan’s surprise, he could not find Syringa, but he did find the shrub. Because a lilac shrub consists of hollow reeds, he cut the reeds and created the first pan pipe. The scientific name for lilac is Syringa vulgaris, and the name is derived from the greek word “syrinks” which means pipe. The common name for lilac, was borrowed from the French and Spanish word of the same name. Similarly, the Arabic word for this flower is “lilak”. The word lilac refers to the light purple color of its flowers.

Lilacs or Syringas are plants in the genus Syringa in the Olive Family Oleaceae. They are deciduous shrubs that bloom in mid-spring around May. Lilacs are native to Europe and the temperate climate areas in Asia. The common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) originated in easter Europe. In the United States, historians think that the first lilacs arrived during the Colonial period and were planted around 1750 at the Governor Wentworth Estate in New Hampshire. The location is now a state park.

Just as there are numerous magnolia species, so too the flower has served as a brand identity for many businesses and institutions, such as:
Magnolia (film), 1999 film by Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia Breeland, a fictional character on the TV series Hart of Dixie, Magnolia Pictures, a U.S. distributor of independent films, Magnolia (Philippine company), a wholly owned subsidiary of Philippine company San Miguel Pure Foods Company, Magnolia Bakery, chain of bakeries founded in New York City, Magnolia Hotel (Dallas, Texas), American hotel, Magnolia Petroleum Company, an oil company later a part of Mobil, Magnolia (CMS), an open source, Java-based, digital business platform with a content management system (CMS) at its core, Magnolia (steamboat), wooden-hulled steamship that operated on Puget Sound from 1907 to 1937, Magnolia Projects, officially the C.J. Peete Projects, also known as "Da Magnolia", previous Housing Project in New Orleans, Magnolia, Alabama, an unincorporated community in Marengo County, Magnolia, Seattle, Washington, a neighborhood, Magnolia, Florida, a former town in Wakulla County, just to name a few.

To all the Mothers

Magnolia in Music:

"Sugar Magnolia" a song by the Grateful Dead, written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir. It has been said that the song was written about Bob Weir's girlfriend but it also makes reference to the magnolia flower.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkKuhAxcH7g

Picture by one of our flower lovers, Ximena Castaño

Magnolia in Literature:

Many poets have been inspired by the beauty of the magnolia tree to write a poem. Here, I present another splendid poem by an American poet, Patricia Neely-Dorsey

The Magnolia Tree

There's a majestic, old magnolia tree,
That stands in my front yard;
It's a tree that's grown there for ages,
And whose beauty you can't disregard.
She spreads her branches quite nobly.
She stretches her arms so commandingly,
As if certainly crying out to be seen.
She's the center of much activity,
And I know a squirrel family lives there;
I'm sure she affords them much comfort,
For her branches don't ever go bare.
There's so much that's gone on around her,
I'm sure that so much could be told;
But she keeps all her secrets well guarded,
And simply remains a sight to behold.

Magnolia in Literature:

The Old Magnolia Tree by an American poet, Louis Brown

Beneath the old magnolia tree
I used to hold you close to me
And there I carved upon that tree
That I loved you and you loved me

Beneath the white magnolia blooms
You cast a spell with your perfume
I believed those wooden words were true
Ingrained in hearts of me and you

But time wears out what boys engrave
Nothing's left of the love you gave
Except that old magnolia scar....
I wish our love had come so far

Yeah, I wish those words were still on track
Cause every spring I dream me back
To tender lips and sweet perfume
Beneath the white magnolia blooms

But time wears out what boys engrave
Nothing's left of the love you gave
Except that old magnolia tree
Reminding me.....reminding me......

Magnolia in Artworks:

Giant Magnolia on a Blue Velvet by an American painter, Martin Johnson Heade,1890 - oil on canvas

Magnolia in Photography:

Magnolia Blossom,1925, by Imogen Cunningham, one of the first professional female photographers in America, is best known for her botanical photography,nudes, and industrial landscapes.

Magnolia in Photography:

Magnolia Blossom,1925, by Imogen Cunningham, one of the first professional female photographers in America, is best known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes.

HI Flower lovers:

I have already received some flowers photographed by my followers.The open call is still open and it will be closed next Sunday ( 5/3/ 20) I would like to keep receiving more pictures, so if you haven't shared your picture, please don't miss the opportunity. Thanks.

Saucer Magnolia ‘ Magnolia x soulangeana’ These magnolias are hybrids, derived from crossing the lily magnolia and the Yulan magnolia. The elegant tulip shaped flower of these handsome trees are among the beauty of spring.

The beautiful fragrant flowers appear before the leaves, in shades of white, pink or purple. Some cultivars are large shrubs, while others eventually become huge spreading trees.They are grouped with the deciduous flowering trees. These magnolia trees are the most commonly grown in the United States.

As we know magnolias come in a wide variety of species, there are about 240 species of trees and shrubs native to North America, South America, the Himalayas, and East Asia. Everybody loves a magnolia tree, and you probably see plenty of these pink and white flowering trees around your neighborhood each spring. We love them all!

The Royal Star Magnolia ‘Magnolia Stellata’ native to Japan. It is one of the most impressive and striking magnolia trees. The defining characteristic of the star magnolia is its flower, which blossom to reveal bright white petals in a star-shaped pattern. These flowers bloom in the beginning of spring and can last until the middle of summer.

The flower is a member of one of the most ancient flowering plant families. The star magnolia tree itself can grow up to 30 feet tall and presents foliage and flowers on several individual trunks that split off from the main trunk a few feet from the ground. The star magnolia is deciduous and loses its leaves in the winter after creating colorful fall foliage. The wood of the star magnolia tree is softer and weaker than other trees of its size and is susceptible to damage, even from wind.

Among all the magnolias, I imagine you have seen the beauty of the Southern Magnolia, Magnolia Grandiflora or Bull Bay. It is a tree of the family magnoliaceae, native to the southeastern United States. The Southern Magnolia is the emblematic tree of Mississippi and the state flower of Misssissipi and Louisiana. Its glossy and elliptical leaves are large and leathery, up to 10 inches long, its large, saucer-shaped creamy white flower can be as much as 12 inches across. It blooms in May and June. The largest Southern Magnolia found in Smith County, Mississippi, is more than 122 feet tall with a trunk diameter of more than six feet, it produces a lemon fragrance. Southern Magnolia is one of the most widely planted ornamental evergreen trees in the world.

Magnolias have a long history, they are ancient flowers. Magnolias emerged much before the bees existed. The blooms of magnolia were pollinated by beetles. The Magnolia got its name after the French botanist Pierre Magnol. Some are trees and others are tall shrubs, some are deciduous and others evergreen; the deciduous lose their leaves in the winter while evergreen keep their leaves all year round. They may bloom in early spring before leaves develop, or they may flower in summer when in full foliage.

There are countless magnolia species, from the big leaf magnolia to the saucer magnolia and every variety in between. They’re known and loved for their fragrant blooms, in shades of white, pink, purple, or yellow.