Sprenger's magnolia is a small deciduous tree from central and east-central China, grown for its large, fragrant, cup-shaped spring flowers that open before the leaves. It is hardy to about USDA zone 6 and needs a sheltered spot with moist, well-drained soil.
Family
Magnoliaceae (Magnolia family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Part shade, Full sun
Water
Water regularly during establishment and in dry spells; keep soil evenly moist but never waterlogged.
Hardy to about -23 °C (USDA zone 6); protect young trees from late frosts that can damage early flowers.
How easy
Moderate
Native range
C. & EC. China
Climate
temperate
About
Magnolia sprengeri, or Sprenger's magnolia, is a species of Magnolia native to China, occurring in Gansu, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Sichuan in forests or thickets at 1300–2400 m elevation. Named for Carl Ludwig Sprenger, a botanist of note.
How to grow it
It is grown as an ornamental tree for its flowers. Several cultivars have been named, including 'Diva', 'Lanhydrock', and 'Wakehurst'. The cultivars 'Burncoose', 'Copeland Court', and 'Eric Savill' have all won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
The species and its cultivars are hardy to roughly USDA hardiness zone 6. A number of hybrids with other Magnolias have also been developed.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Magnolia sprengeri 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.