How long before I will see the flowers on this tree?
On this lucky Friday 13th..
I started to yearn for a Magnolia again.. as this is spring and new things should be planted instead of all the sorrows of the past. So here it is, a new baby tree. It is small, but with time it will grow into a mature being of beauty.
From Wikipedia: Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol. Magnolia is an ancient genus. Having evolved before bees appeared, the flowers developed to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough. Fossilized specimens of Magnolia acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago, and of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae dating to 95 million years ago. Another primitive aspect of Magnolias is their lack of distinct sepals or petals: Magnolias possess undifferentiated flower parts for which the term “tepals” was coined.
I was surprised to find out that Magnolias are as old as 95 million years. That takes a lot of patience on the part of Magnolias… My contemplation revealed that I am not that patient. But my palpable impatience is a clever clue from myself! And the message is: I must spend time to grow as well.
