When to Plant a Magnolia Bush

Photo by Fadadomar

TheGardenLady received this questin from Betty:

When is the best time of year to plant Magnolia bushes?

TheGardenLady never heard of a Magnolia bush; but since there are about 80 different species of magnolia that are native to the eastern United States and southeastern Asia as well as hunderds of named hybrids, there might be a plant that has the common name of Magnolia bush.

One difference between a bush and a small tree, TheGardenLady was told, is the height- a bush is under 20 feet tall and a tree is over 20 feet tall. So you can see how arbitrary the word bush can be in a plant name. That is why it is imperative to ALWAYS give the Latin name of a plant when asking a question about a plant. With the Latin name, the person answering your question knows exactly which plant to talk about.

Also, you must give some other information when asking when to plant, such as what part of the country you live in or the part of the country where you live with its temperature zone or where in the world you live, etc. Your email address says you are writing from the United Kingdom.

One excellent site for magnolia planting information in the Easten part of the US is this. But in England, TheGardenLady would contact the Royal Horticultural Society or visit them at Wisley, one of the most wonderful gardens in the world. There are other Horticultural Societies in England and there may be one near you.

Or contact Kew Gardens which should be able to answer most botanic questions since it holds 1 in 8 of the world’s known species of plants.  They are also the Royal Botanic Society. Or contact the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Also, all the states in the US and provinces in Canada have an organization called The Master Gardeners that gives FREE advice to gardeners. BBC brought the program to England where it seems to be rapidly growing. Check your area to see if they have a Master Gardener phone you can call. If not, the main office of the MGs of England is located in London where you can call them either with your question or to ask for the nearest MG office for you to contact.