Quackin Grass Nursery

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Magnolia virginiana 'Prolific' - Sweetbay Magnolia from Quackin Grass Nursery

Magnolia virginiana 'Prolific' (ex: Will Forster) - This Will Forster selection, named for its flowering potential, sports flowers 3.25 to 3.50 inches across with a handsome 8 to 10 tepals. It's a heavy bloomer in a normal spring; in a usually wet spring it will flower into early-mid July, rest for a few weeks and then will flower prolifically into the late season. Its habit is also unusual as it is small and bushy rather than tree-like. It will slowly colonize with multiple stems; it is apparently, atypically stoloniferous. Foliage is dark green with a comely gloss. The original plant was chosen from a seed-grown youngsters, the seed having been collected by Peter Zale from a cultivated trees in Aiken, SC. Also interesting is that Will has grown this plant for years in USDA zone 5. So, it appears to harbor enhanced hardiness as well. We thank Will Forster for having faith in us and are happy to make his fine selection of Sweetbay Magnolia available. Moist, organic ground in full to part sun. Even wetter soils will work. Populations of Sweetbay Magnolia display endemic differences. The species can be found from Texas, Arkansas eastward to the coast, Florida north to Long Island with sporadic clusters as far north as Massachusetts. Those in Massachusetts and Connecticut may be descendants of introduced trees - the jury is still out. Though the USDA does not indicate populations in Connecticut we have heard murmurings of some individuals found in moist woods in the western part of the state. Deep moisture retaining loam. Established potted Magnolia from seed or cutting.

Some interesting history that Will Forster shares with us... when he first selected this plant it was at that time designated as Magnolia virginiana var. pumila, a name now invalid. This plant was selected from a population that had survived a multiplicity of fires in the southeastern coastal plain of North Carolina in the 1960s. The trees were repeatedly burned, beaten back but rose again from the ashes. They arose with a genetic adaptation. The colony became genetically stable in its stoloniferous imperative to survive, the stoloniferous affect being unusual. In a completely imperfect metaphor think of the common dandelion in the lawn. With repeated mowing the flowering stems shorten so that it may flower, set seed and continue its reign; with repeated burning the plant learned to survive by colonization. Plants are amazing, my imperfect expressions and metaphors are otherwise.