Saucer Magnolia Tree - Second Summer Bloom - July 2023

The multi-trunk Saucer Magnolia Tree that we have planted in our Northern Illinois, Zone 5B suburban front yard put on a spectacular pink show this Spring with the most productive flower bloom we've had since the tree went in back in Summer of 2017.  As I've done in previous years, I've treated this with a systemic insecticide to help protect it against scale that seems to creep in/on in most growing seasons.  

The tree has a nice dark color to the foliage and seems to have handled the early Summer drought just fine in our area.   See below for a current view of the tree and the full, dark foliage in mid-Summer 2023:

On a recent morning when I was setting up the sprinkler to handle the lawn in front, I noticed some spots of pink high up in the canopy of the Magnolia tree.  See below for a look at those pink tufts near the tips of the tallest limbs: 

A closer look (below) shows one of the blooms:

What do we have going on here?  Seems like a small, second bloom.  

This has happened before - here's a post back in July of 2020 (3 years ago) showing the very same thing: a second bloom on the Saucer Magnolia tree.  Back in that post, I linked to this forum post from the University of British Columbia where folks were saying that a second, pink flush of Magnolia blooms in mid-Summer is totally normal and occurs from time-to-time.   And, other posters go on to talk about how these new blooms were grown and set in *this* growing season, so there's little to worry about the buds being set later this Fall.  

But, what does our own garden history say about the Spring bloom following a second, Summer bloom?

Our tree was just fine.  And that means that if your Saucer Magnolia tree gets a small, second bloom in Summer, you're next Spring blooms aren't impacted.

Here's the history from my [garden diary]:

Second Summer bloom in July 2020.  I observed furry buds in late Winter - March 2021.  And, our Magnolia tree bloomed in mid-April 2021.  

I'll watch this Fall/Winter/Spring to see if history repeats itself.