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May 2015
Some of you may recognize this Bucket title from the JJ Cale song "Magnolia".
Whippoorwill's singing
Soft summer breeze
Makes me think of my baby
I left down in New Orleans
I left down in New Orleans
Magnolia, you sweet thing
You're driving me mad
Got to get back to you, babe
You're the best I ever had
You're the best I ever had
You whisper "Good morning"
So gently in my ear
I'm coming home to you, babe
I'll soon be there
I'll soon be there
My tree book says this tree
(Magnolia grandiflora) is commonly called a Bull Bay. I have never heard that; mostly we call it Magnolia and everyone knows what that is. Other trees in this family include Sweet Bay (m. virginiana) and the deciduous members - Pyramid and Ashe's Magnolias. There's also an Umbrella Magnolia found only in a few places in the Florida Panhandle. Ditto for something called a Cucumbertree (m. acuminata) that I have never seen. They are all impressive trees with big blooms.
Here's a good description of the tree. Apparently there are cultivars of this species and it has been planted widely outside its lower southeast US range. All I know is I can stand on my deck and count around 20 of them from 2" saplings to full grown with 12" trunks.
Close up of the flower head. Eventually all the petals fall off, the cone turns brown and red bean-sized seeds will develop. These cones will hang around for months, as do the big 8" leaves. It's a messy tree. "High maintenance" as this website says.
Duty done and off the stamen go collecting in a petal -
before they fall out to the ground, or in this case, my scummy deck.
Lots of buds never make it to bloom and fall off; don't know why.
JJ Cale on YouTube
That's it for this bucket. See ya in the comments with your observations.
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