Herself’s Houston Garden

I planted this vine with the greatest of hopes. It grew, and grew and every week I beat it back. Nary a single flower. Tiring of beating the vine back, I cut it down.
Fast grower! Can easily reach 20′ tall in two summers.

Grows best in moist woodland areas. But must have several hours of sun for blooming.

Blooms appear early summer, flowers can be anywhere from 8″ to 20″ on older vines.

This is one of the few vines that is easier to grow from seed than from cuttings.

Aristolochia grandiflora is originally from Central America, there are about 350 species worldwide. Some grow in tropical areas others in temperate forests.

Highly toxic plant – do not ingest.

Problems:
Spider mites may attack this plant.

This is an interesting plant in that its flowers give off a scent to attract flies. Flies fly into the flower and it traps them overnight. There are hairs inside the flower that point in making it a one way trip down the narrow column to the round base. The flies fly around inside the flower getting totally covered in pollen. In the morning the flower relaxes allowing the pollen covered fly to escape and pollinate another flower.

Swallowtail and birdwing butterfly caterpillars use this as a food source. They absorb the toxins making them toxic to birds that would eat them. Some species of this plant are toxic to butterflies and they can get confused and lay eggs on the wrong species of Aristolochia ( elegans ). So know your species before you plant it.

It’s getting harder and harder to single out plants in photos here. But I guess that is a good thing? This was planted about a year ago and it has doubled or more its height and filled out quite nicely.

I wish I had several more, but with city lots one must pick and choose plants.

This tree bloomed a little last year, more this year and in time should start to bloom through out the summer.

Southern magnolia should reach about 60′ tall and 30′ across. We are at the southern edge of where it will grow, so that may stunt its size some.

Some people remove the lower branches, some leave them on. I have not yet decided. When removing lower branches from a tree wait till they reach about 1″ in diameter. It is better for the trunk and overall growth.

Growth is slow when the tree is first planted and picks up as the tree settles in.

Tolerant of Houston summers and hard freezes.

It is an evergreen. And likes regular feedings of nitrogen and iron. I give everything iron about once a year year.

Watch for scale, orange oil helps. Better is to remove branches closer than a couple of feet to the ground. I’ve done that and had no scale problems since.

This tree grows in full sun to part shade, this one receives full sun all afternoon. It is drought tolerant but prefers a moist, slightly acidic soil. My alkaline clay seems to suit this one.

Once is it grows it will shade out everything around and underneath it.

This magnolia came with the house. It was overshadowed by an oak. When I pulled all the over grown heather out of the bed it was planted in, I found paint and paint thinner. The contractors cleaning the home for sale had used that bed as a dumping area for chemicals.

Amazingly it survived and is thriving.

This magnolia is not as full as the traditional grandiflora. There are several in the neighborhood, none are fuller than mine. They tend to look scraggly even when happy. They grow 15′-20′ tall and 8′-10′ wide. They are very slow to grow and slower to fill out. But the upside of that is that it won’t shade out everything around it like a traditional magnolia will do.

I find they flower more profusely and longer than the traditional magnolias.

They prefer full sun, watering needs are average.  They do prefer the regular rains of the east coast to our flood/drought climate.

Houston summers and cold winters like the ’09/’10 do not bother this tree.

Magnolias, this one especially, shed leaves in the spring, not to panic when that happens. This is normal. The first year we were here it shed almost all its leaves. It is shedding less each year, but will always drop some leaves come spring.

Oils can be used to control scale, we’ve had good luck with orange oil available at most plant stores. I find if any branches are at or near ground level scale will attack. Keep the bottom of the tree trimmed up.

Magnolias are one of the oldest flowering plants containing about 177,000 different species. The name is from French botanist Pierre Magnol.

More information:
Vicki’s Home; Gardening; Little Gem Magnolia

Magnolia grandiflora, Little Gem