Purple magnolia is a deciduous shrub or small tree, usually under 4 m, grown for its large pink to purple spring flowers that open before the leaves. Give it sun, well-drained soil and shelter from late frosts.
Family
Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)
Grows as
Tree, Shrub, Orchid
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply during dry spells, especially when young, and let the top of the soil dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Moist, fertile, well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral soil.
Temperature
Hardy to about -20 °C; flower buds can be damaged by late spring frosts.
How easy
Easy
Native range
China (Hubei, Yunnan, Hunan, Fujian)
Climate
temperate
About
Magnolia liliiflora is a shrub or small tree native to southern China (including Sichuan and Yunnan), but cultivated for centuries elsewhere in China and also Japan. Variously known by many names, including Mulan magnolia, purple magnolia, red magnolia, lily magnolia, tulip magnolia and woody-orchid, it was first introduced to English-speaking countries from cultivated Japanese origins, and is thus also sometimes called Japanese magnolia, though it is not native to Japan. It is now also planted as an ornamental in North America and Europe, though rather less often than its popular hybrid (see below).
It is a deciduous shrub, exceptionally a small tree, to 4m tall (smaller than most other magnolias), and blooms profusely in early spring with large pink to purple showy flowers, before the leaf buds open.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Magnolia liliiflora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.