Magnolia Cultivars P

'Paul Cook'

Flowers precocious, rather floppy and opening 20–28 cm across; tepals 6–9, lavender pink outside, white within. An upright, vigorous, small to medium tree more robust than either parent, registered 1975 by Frank Galyon, TN. Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Paul Cook' (31st March 2021). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'Paul Cook' (26th March 2021). Image Caerhays Estate.

'Peachy'

Flowers with the opening foliage, orange-pink outside, creamy white inside, fragrant; tepals 9, ~13 × 5 cm, upright at first, then flopping. The colour suggests a ‘mottled peach’ (R. Figlar in Callaway 1994). Fast growing, upright, small to medium tree. From a Phil Savage cross of 1979, named 1994 by Dick Figlar; ‘Apricot Brandy’ shares its parentage. Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Peachy': newly opened flowers (9th April 2011). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Peachy': tepals become floppy as the flower ages (6th April 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

The unusual flower colour of Magnolia 'Peachy' (centre left) makes a striking contrast with other magnolias, here 'Serene' (right) and 'Daybreak' to the far left (6th April 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Upright form and autumn colour in Magnolia 'Peachy' (28th October 2015). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Pegasus'

Flowers precocious and profuse, erect, vase-shaped at first, opening wide later; 6 petaloid tepals white, suffused purple-pink towards base, ~10 cm with reflexed margins; 3 outer tepals small and sepaloid. A large shrub or small to medium multistemmed tree, developing a spreading crown with age. Raised by Mary Henry, PA, from the 1930s distribution of M. cylindrica seed by Lushan Botanical Garden, which later proved to have been outcrossed, probably with M. denudata (see under M. cylindrica). It was distributed in Europe (as M. cylindrica) initially by Hillier Nurseries who had received scion wood, but Hilliers also distributed many seedlings from it. A beautiful plant, it was eventually named by Roy Lancaster from a tree at Trengwainton, Cornwall, which originated at Hilliers (Edwards & Marshall 2019).

Magnolia 'Pegasus' (17th March 2020). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Pegasus' in the Valley Gardens, April 2009. Image John Grimshaw.

Magnolia 'Pegasus' (17th March 2020). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

The flowers of 'Pegasus' are very elegantly shaped (Ray Wood, Castle Howard, North Yorkshire, April 2022). Image John Grimshaw.

'Peppermint Stick'

Flowers precocious, opening from distinctive narrow, pointed buds to 11 cm long; inner tepals held erect on opening, while the outer ones reflex almost to the horizontal; tepals 9, white flushed pink at the base. An upright small to medium tree, one of the original Gresham hybrids (Edwards & Marshall 2019).

Magnolia 'Peppermint Stick' (14th April 2015). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Peppermint Stick' (8th April 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Perry Paige'

See Magnolia virginiana ‘Perry Paige’.

'Peter Borlase'

See Magnolia campbellii ‘Peter Borlase’.

'Peter Dummer'

Flowers precocious, erect and tulip-shaped, fragrant; tepals clean pink outside (no hint of purple), deeper at the base, creamy white inside. A medium tree, sometimes multistemmed, selected at RHS Garden Wisley by Jim Gardiner, as one of a number of seedlings from a deliberate cross made in the 1980s at Hillier Nurseries by Peter Dummer. Williams, Gardiner & Gallagher (2016) include it in their selection of up-and-coming magnolias. ‘Janet’ shares the same parents.

Magnolia 'Peter Dummer' at RHS Garden Wisley (15th April 2016). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Peter Dummer' at RHS Garden Wisley, March 2012. Image John Grimshaw.

'Peter Smithers'

Flowers precocious, opening wide to 25 cm across; tepals 9, broad, pink outside, white inside; stamens and gynoecium reddish. A fast growing, large leaved, small to medium tree. A Gresham hybrid selected before 1984 by Ken Durio, LA, named for the British-Swiss intelligence officer and politician turned gardener, a noted magnolia enthusiast (Fogg & Del Tredici 1984).

Magnolia 'Peter Smithers' has flowers as flamboyant as its namesake (Caerhays Castle, 14th February 2020). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'Peter Smithers' (4th March 2017). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'Peter Smithers' at Caerhays Castle (14th February 2020). Image Caerhays Estate.

'Peter Veitch'

See Magnolia × veitchii ‘Peter Veitch’.

'Phelan Bright'

Flowers precocious but later than most Gresham hybrids, goblet-shaped and very large, opening to as much as 35 cm across, pure white with 12 tepals. An upright, later spreading, medium tree, a Gresham hybrid selected 1992 by Tina Durio, LA. The wonderfully named Phelan Bright was one-time secretary of Magnolia Society International.

Magnolia 'Phelan Bright' (RHS Garden Wisley, 15th April 2016). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Phelan Bright' (21st April 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

A young specimen of Magnolia 'Phelan Bright', which can in time make a substantial tree (RHS Garden Wisley, 15th April 2016). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Philip Tregunna'

Flowers precocious (March in SW England), ~19 cm across; tepals 11–12, broad, purple-pink outside, the paler pink inside visible as flowers open fully. A vigorous medium tree, with large leaves resembling those of M. campbellii. A chance hybrid raised at Caerhays Castle, Cornwall in 1960, named for the then head gardener. The original measured 16 m × 252 cm in 2016 (The Tree Register 2022).

Magnolia 'Philip Tregunna' at Caerhays Castle (1st March 2022). Image Julian Sutton.

Magnolia 'Philip Tregunna': the original tree at Caerhays Castle (3rd March 2020). Image Julian Sutton.

'Philo'

See Magnolia acuminata ‘Philo’.

'Pickard's Garnet'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Pickard’s Garnet’.

'Pickard's Opal'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Pickard’s Opal’.

'Pickard's Ruby'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Pickard’s Ruby’.

'Pickard's Schmetterling'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Pickard’s Schmetterling’.

'Pickard's Snow Queen'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Pickard’s Snow Queen’.

'Pickard's Stardust'

Flowers precocious, April (S England), successionally over several weeks, fragrant; tepals 9, 6 inner tepals erect, white, flushed pink at the base, outer 3 reflexed. A floriferous, multi-stemmed medium shrub with ascending branches. An open-pollinated seedling raised by Amos Pickard, Kent, before 1984. Gardiner (2000) felt it worthy of much wider attention.

'Pickard's Sundew'

Flowers goblet-shaped, to 25 cm across; tepals creamy white, flushed pink at the base, sometimes with a hint of orange in the shade. Raised by Amos Pickard, Kent, probably a seedling of M. × soulangenana ‘Picture’, introduced 1968. Usually listed under M. × soulangeana, there have sometimes been suggestions that another species such as M. campbellii might be also involved.

Magnolia 'Pickard's Garnet' (4th April 2005). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Pickard's Sundew' within the UK National Collection of magnolias at Sherwood, Devon; 5th May 2013. Image Owen Johnson.

'Picture'

See Magnolia × soulangeana ‘Picture’.

'Pink Flush'

See Magnolia obovata ‘Pink Flush’.

'Pink Goblet'

Flowers precocious, large and goblet-shaped, uniform pale pink outside, white inside. A small, vigorous, often multistemmed tree. A Gresham hybrid selected before 1989 by Alabama nurseryman David Ellis. Precise parentage unknown, although its number prior to naming (G66#12) suggests by analogy with better-documented varieties that it was one of the Gloster Arboretum plants and thus probably (M. × veitchii) × (M. × soulangeana) – see Magnolia Gresham hybrids.

Magnolia 'Pink Goblet', a Gresham hybrid (JC Raulston Arboretum, 24th March 2010). Image JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.

Magnolia 'Pink Goblet' (JC Raulston Arboretum, 24th March 2010). Image JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.

'Pink Parchment'

Flowers precocious, to 13 cm across, very fragrant; tepals 9, white, striped purple-pink on the outside. A medium tree selected by Michael Dirr, GA, from Arnold Arboretum seed of M. zenii, first flowering 1997 (Dirr 2009); apparently a hybrid (Grimshaw & Bayton 2009).

'Pink Royalty'

Flowers with or just before the new leaves, upright and tulip-shaped, with up to 16 pink tepals, fragrant. A small, upright, ultimately floriferous tree selected before 2002 by Phil Savage, MI (Magnolia Society International 2003; Frank P Matthews 2022; Piet Vergeldt Boomkwekerij 2022).

Magnolia 'Pink Royalty' (18th April 2019). Image Caerhays Estate.

'Pinkie'

Flowers precocious but late, to 18 cm across, red-purple outside in bud, ageing pink, white inside; tepals 9–12, broad and thick. A medium to large shrub, usually erect, sometimes spreading. A de Vos & Kosar hybrid raised at the US National Arboretum before 1968; the identity of Pinkie, presumably a nickname, has never been publicly divulged.

Magnolia 'Pinkie' (9th April 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Pinkie', a shrubby cultivar (9th April 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Pinkie' (Himalayan Garden and Sculpture Park, Grewelthorpe, North Yorkshire, UK, May 2023). Image John Grimshaw.

'Porcelain Dove'

Semi-evergreen large shrub or small multistemmed tree; leaves silvery beneath, resembling M. virginiana; flowers cup-shaped, porcelain-white with red stamens, larger than those of M. virginiana, freely over a long season from May. A Todd Gresham hybrid selected 1986 by Tom and Bill Dodd, at whose Alabama nursery huge numbers of Gresham’s later seedlings had been lined out. The name reflects both the flower colour and the name of Gresham’s California home, Hill of Doves.

Magnolia 'Porcelain Dove', an interesting and attractive intersectional hybrid (26th May 2012). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'Porcelain Dove' (26th May 2012). Image Caerhays Estate.

Magnolia 'Porcelain Dove' (Arboretum Wespelaar, 15th June 2021). Image Koen Camelbeke.

Magnolia 'Porcelain Dove' flowering well in The Netherlands (1st June 2021). Image Koen Camelbeke.

'Powder Puff'

See Magnolia × loebneri ‘Powder Puff’.

'Premier Cru'

Flowers precocious (early April in S England), large, deep reddish pink outside, much paler pink inside. A small tree raised by Maurice Foster, Kent, before 2020 (Millais Nurseries 2022; Frank P Matthews 2021).

Magnolia 'Premier Cru': contrast between the inner and outer tepal surfaces. Image Maurice Foster.

Magnolia 'Premier Cru' (8th March 2020). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Pride of Norway'

See Magnolia sieboldii ‘Pride of Norway’.

'Princess Margaret'

Flowers precocious, large to 28 cm across, red-purple outside, cream inside. A vigorous medium tree. The original specimen in the Valley Gardens, Windsor Great Park (20 m × 217 cm, 2021 – The Tree Register 2022) dates from 1957, a seedling from M. campbellii Alba Group at Caerhays Castle, by way of Hillier Nurseries. ‘Michael Rosse’ is similar (and of similar origin), with tepals slightly lighter coloured and more rounded. Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Princess Margaret' (British Columbia, 22nd April 2008). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Pristine'

Flowers precocious (late March to early April in S England), pure white despite having ‘Waterlily’ as a parent, to 15 cm across; tepals initially held erect, as in M. denudata, later spreading. A broad, medium to large shrub, less vigorous than M. denudata but reliably floriferous. Raised by Joe McDaniel, IL, before 1984.

Magnolia 'Pristine' has pure white flowers (7th April 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Pristine' is less vigorous than M. denudata (4th April 2008). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Pseudokobus'

See Magnolia kobus ‘Pseudokobus’.

'Purple Breeze'

Flowers precocious (March to early April in Belgium), large and floppy, to about 25 cm across; tepals 12–13, purplish-pink outside, paler pink inside. At Arboretum Wespelaar, Belgium, flowers are frost-damaged as many years as not. A very floriferous small tree registered in 2000 by Philippe de Spoelberch, a plant purchased as M. sargentiana var. robusta in 1984 (Arboretum Wespelaar 2021; Callaway 2000); still highly rated by him (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Purple Breeze' has abundant large, floppy flowers (6th April 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Purple Breeze' in its prime: a spectacular sight (22nd March 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Purple Eye'

Flowers precocious, cup-shaped; tepals 9, white flushed purple at the base on both surfaces. A small tree which originated in a batch of seedlings grown by J.C. Williams of Caerhays Castle, Cornwall; named and distributed by the Veitch nursery, Exeter before 1926. Despite suspicions of hybridity (Treseder 1978) it has usually been listed as a cultivar of M. denudata, but flow cytometry shows it to be an octaploid 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, although M. denudata × (M. × soulangeana) has been suspected (Lobdell 2021); this, incidentally, would make it a cultivar of M. × soulangeana.

It is more vigorous, larger flowered but less floriferous than typical white flowered M. denudata as seen in gardens, and blooms a few days later.

Magnolia 'Purple Eye' within the UK National Collection at Sherwood, Devon. 5th May 2013. Image Owen Johnson.

'Purple Globe'

Flowers precocious, initially globular, purplish pink outside, paler inside. A vigorous, open, small tree raised by Os Blumhardt, New Zealand, 1989, comparable with his ‘Star Wars’. Reports of its parentage vary even more wildly than is usual in these matters, viz: M. liliiflora ‘Nigra’ × (M. × soulangeana ‘Lennei’) (Lobdell 2021); M. ‘Iolanthe’ × (M. × soulangeana ‘Rustica Rubra’) (Heerdegen & Eisenhut 2020); M. liliiflora ‘Nigra’ × (M. × veitchii) (Piet Vergeldt Boomkwekerij 2022); and two of these sources go on to suggest that it might be a sister to ‘Star Wars’ (M. liliiflora × M. campbellii)!

Magnolia 'Purple Globe' (22nd April 2007). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

'Purple Queen'

See Magnolia figo ‘Purple Queen’.

'Purple Sensation'

Flowers precocious (April in S England), large, cup-and-saucer-shaped, rich bluish pink-purple flowers. A medium tree making a wonderful later flowering alternative to M. campbellii ‘Lanarth’; it also flowers from a young age. Raised before 2000 by amateur breeder Ian Baldick, New Zealand (Edwards & Marshall 2019). Highly rated by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (pers. comm. 2021).

Magnolia 'Purple Sensation': the colour rivals its parent M. campbellii 'Lanarth' (14th April 2010). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Purple Sensation' (Caerhays Castle, Cornwall; 25 March 2023). Image Julian Sutton.

'Purple Star'

Flowers precocious, mid-March to mid-April in N Belgium, to 20 cm across, upfacing and opening out to give a starry shape when seen from below, fragrant; tepals firm textured, dark red-purple outside, lighter inside. A floriferous, strongly upright small tree selected before 2004 by Philippe de Spoelberch, Belgium (Arboretum Wespelaar 2021).

Magnolia 'Purple Star' (Herkenrode, 19th March 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Viewed from below, flowers of Magnolia 'Purple Star' demonstrate its name's origin (Herkenrode, 14th March 2007). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Purple Star' in bud (Herkenrode, 17th March 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.

Magnolia 'Purple Star' makes a strongly upright tree (Herkenrode, 19th March 2017). Image Philippe de Spoelberch.