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Most Dutch gardens have a little Magnolia stellata tucked away in some corner. Our acid soils, especially when some peat is around, seem to suit these plants down to the ground. The magnolia is the one plant that we seem to be able to just throw into the ground and then watch it grow

Magnolia "Betty"

We also have the advantage of having space so we aren’t as restricted as one would be in a smaller garden where one just can’t set about planting trees without worrying about what will happen in a few years. Some magnolia can grow quite rapidly into sizable trees that have a limited aesthetic interest to the general gardener once the flowers have vanished.

Magnolia "Charles Coates"

Magnolia "Yellow Bird"

So, what is the special thing to look out for if you have only limited space and want to grow something that the neighbours will talk about? One has a choice of really big leaves in magnolia tripetala, magnolia officinalis var. biloba, magnolia hypoleuca and magnolia macrophylla where the flowers are a sort of added bonus. Turning to flowers, there are scented flowers and summer flowers but the proverbial “black tulip” equivalent is the yellow-flowered magnolia. A classic representative of this is  Magnolia "Yellow Bird” (photo right) but improved varieties appear each year and these aren’t always widely available Speaking personally, the scented and decorative flowers of Magnolia x wieseneri (photo below) which appear from June onwards are a favourite although it isn’t a shrub I would recommend for a smaller garden – it tends to sprawl and flowers are not richly borne. It is a hybrid between two species, Magnolia hypoleuca and Magnolia sieboldii, which can also be found in our garden.

Magnolia x weiseneri

The website of the International Magnolia Society provides excellent cultivation information and contains a very helpful cultivar checklist - go to www.magnoliasociety.org