Saucer Magnolia - First Season of Flowers - 2018

With the weather (suddenly) turning quite warm last week, our Saucer Magnolia in the front yard decided to say hello.  One morning, the flowers just started to shoot up and open.  This tree went in by the landscaper who installed the rest of our landscaping before we moved in and is set in a small, circular bed in between our front porch and the sidewalk.  It gets a ton of sun and as it matures is set to be a focal point. 

Back in August, I posted a photo of how I 'limbed up' the tree in an attempt to get it to grow more tree-like and less shrub and I'm happy to say that I didn't kill the thing.  Even more, it appears that the clearing of some of the sucker and low limbs have helped allow the tree to provide energy to it's tips. 

Just look at this beauty:

I call this "Nat's tree" because it was the one thing that she specifically spec'd with the landscaper.  And when we were planting it, I didn't tell her that it was coming and intended it to be a bit of a surprise.  I wasn't sure planting something like this in the yard was 'right'.  But...of course, she was right.  I'm really happy with the selection and the placement.