Magnolia Cultivars F

'F.J. Williams'

Flowers precocious and early (February to early March in Cornwall), large, cup-and-saucer shaped; tepals rich red-purple outside, inside paler and fading. A small to medium tree, larger flowered and earlier than ‘Lanarth’. From a cross made by Philip Tregunna at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall, in 1987; named for Julian Williams, then custodian of Caerhays. Williams, Gardiner & Gallagher (2016) highlight it as an up-and-coming cultivar in Europe.

Magnolia 'F.J. Williams' (12th February 2022). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'F.J. Williams' (12th February 2022). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'F.J. Williams' (Caerhays Castle, 28th March 2014). Image Christophe Crock.

Magnolia 'F.J. Williams' (5th March 2011). Image Caerhays Estate.

FAIRY MAGNOLIA BLUSH

See Magnolia Cultivars M ‘Micjur01’.

FAIRY MAGNOLIA CREAM

See Magnolia Cultivars M ‘Micjur02’.

FAIRY MAGNOLIA WHITE

See Magnolia Cultivars M ‘Micjur05’.

'Fei Huang'

Flowers with or just before the new leaves, cream or pale yellow from yellow buds, fragrant. A small tree with a broad ovoid crown, introduced to Europe from Chinese cultivation in about 2000, and widely marketed (Edwards & Marshall 2019; van den Berk Nurseries 2022). Nurseries often list it incorrectly as a clone of M. denudata although flower colour and timing bely its hybrid origin. Similar to ‘Elizabeth’; Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium, considers it no better (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Fei Huang' (8th May 2016). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Fei Huang' (8th May 2016). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Fei Huang' (27th April 2012). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

FELIX JURY

See Magnolia Cultivars J ‘Jurmag2’.

'Ferruginea'

See Magnolia grandiflora ‘Ferruginea’.

'Fertile Myrtle'

See Magnolia acuminata ‘Fertile Myrtle’.

FESTIROSE

See Magnolia denudata ‘Minrose’.

'Findlay's Form'

See Magnolia sinensis ‘Findlay’s Form’.

'Fireglow'

Flowers precocious, cup-shaped; tepals 6, to 12.5 cm long, white with a beautiful rich magenta lower third, and magenta stripe to the tip. An upright, conical small tree with thick, leathery leaves, raised by Phil Savage, MI. The “M. cylindrica” parent was a hybrid grown in Michigan from Lu Shan Botanical Garden seed (see under M. cylindrica), but probably not ‘Pegasus’.

Magnolia 'Fireglow' (25th March 2013). Image Caerhays Estate.

'First Flush'

Flowers precocious, in early spring, white, flushed pink on the lower half outside. A small tree bred by Os Blumhardt, New Zealand, before 1982.

'Flamingo'

Flowers tulip-shaped, sometimes before the leaves; tepals rosy pink 10–12.5 cm, outer ones reflexing. An upright, notably hardy, medium tree. Raised by Phil Savage, MI, before 1992.

Magnolia 'Flamingo' (24th April 2018). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Forrest's Pink'

Flowers precocious, resembling M. denudata in shape; tepals 9–11, at their best a beautiful clean pink flushed darker at the base. A single or multistemmed, small, upright growing tree raised as a seedling in the 1920s at Caerhays, Cornwall and thought to have originated from one of George Forrest’s seed collections. Long listed as a cultivar of M. denudata, flow cytometry shows that it is a heptaploid and hence almost certainly a hybrid (unpublished data of R. Olsen & S. Lura (2013) cited by US National Arboretum 2022 and Lobdell 2021). Its precise parentage remains unknown.

It appears that its colour depends on temperature. In SE England the colour is generally disappointing. However, when grown in Cornwall or by Sir Peter Smithers at Vico Morcote, Switzerland, where spring temperatures are generally warmer, it performs far better. Smithers was consistently impressed with it over 20 years as being a clearer, truer pink than the best of the established M. × soulangeana clones, having none of the purplish tints they possess (Gardiner 2000). Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch despite it flowering too early for him in Belgium to escape spring frosts (pers. comm. 2021).

'Fragrance'

See Magnolia × gotoburgensis ‘Fragrance’.

'Frank Gladney'

Flowers precocious but rather late, cup-and-saucer form, large to 30 cm across; tepals broad, 12, deep pink outside, white inside. Vigorous, upright small to medium tree selected from Gresham hybrids by Ken Durio (Fogg & Del Tredici 1984).

Magnolia 'Frank Gladney' (6th April 2001). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Frank Gladney' (30th March 2012). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Frank's Masterpiece'

Flowers precocious, to 28 cm across; tepals 8–9, very deep red-purple outside. A small tree with strong apical dominance and somewhat weeping branches, raised by Frank Galyon, TN, before 1997; three quarters of its genetic heritage is M. × soulangeana (Callaway 1998). Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium, notes ‘good big flowers, poor habit’ (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Frank's Masterpiece' (6th April 2011). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Frank's Masterpiece' (Parco Botanico Eisenhut Gambarogno, Switzerland; 30th March 2012). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Frank Galyon with his masterpiece (July 2001). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Freeman'

Evergreen, columnar (at least at first), large shrub or small tree, resembling M. grandiflora but leaves slightly narrower and with less indumentum. Fragrant, globular white flowers may open (rarely in Britain) to a cup 12 cm across. From a controlled cross made in 1930 by Oliver Freeman of the US National Arboretum, named 1962 (compare ‘Maryland’, of the same origin which is a broader plant with larger flowers which open more readily, and larger leaves).

A fully open flower of Magnolia 'Freeman' in the summer warmth of North Carolina (JC Raulston Arboretum, 13th June 2007). Image JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.

Evergreen leaves of Magnolia 'Freeman' (JC Raulston Arboretum, 16th March 2013). Image JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.

Magnolia 'Freeman' has a columnar habit, at least initially (JC Raulston Arboretum, 16th March 2013). Image JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.

A mature specimen of Magnolia 'Freeman' no longer appears columnar (5th March 2020). Image The Morton Arboretum.

'Full Eclipse'

Flowers precocious, tulip-shaped; tepals 9, to 12.5 cm long, slender and pointed, deep pink-red outside, white inside. A strongly growing small to medium tree of columnar habit, selected from Gresham seedlings by John Giordano, AL, before 1990; parentage uncertain.

Magnolia 'Full Eclipse' (4th April 2005). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Full Eclipse' at the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park, April 2018. Image John Grimshaw.