 |
Magnolia 'Betty' |
 |
| | Still small after five years in our garden, but the flowers get more plentiful every year |
| Family |
magnoliaceae |
| Life cycle |
tree (Z5-9) |
| Flowers |
purple (April) |
| Size |
12-15' |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
Now we've got both 'Elizabeth' and 'Betty' magnolias! While it sounds like Betty should be a littler version of Elizabeth, they are actually quite different, in habit and in flower color. Betty is purple, and blooms a bit later than some other magnolias. I was particularly drawn to this one when Herb of Point Phillip Perennials pointed out his own specimens, one growing as a tree, the other more like a bush, both still sporting blooms in early September. Looking for information on the web, I see no mention of such continuous bloom, so I was afraid it was just be the magic of the location that coaxes the flowers to keep coming at Point Phillip. But I've already seen a few blooms in July, so I'm confident that our Betty will provide charm and seclusion to the patio by our big pond. In her first year she provided exactly one flower, arriving two weeks later than our star magnolia's display. The photo above was for year 2 - not much overall growth at that point, but oh, those flowers! Since then, our little tree has grown slowly but steadily, providing ever more flowers at the edge of our pond-side patio.
This magnolia is one of the 'Little Girl' series, which are hybrids of M. liliflora 'Nigra' and M. stellata 'Rosea'. More recently, we acquired its cousin 'Ann', which also features pink-purple flowers. Too early to say in which ways it differs from 'Betty'
|
| | Looks like Betty is waving hankies at passersby |
| 
| | Flower in late July! |
|
We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Magnolia 'Betty'
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Ken | Mar 16, 2009 | I am looking for a Magnolia of the Betty variety to plant in my new home. I have planted this variety in two previous homes. The first was planted in Fort wayne, Indiana. I had purchased this variety at random at a local nursery. I was very happy with the growth habit, beautiful shape and branching of the tree and flower production. So much that I planted the same variety in Pittsburgh. It did take some hunting to find Betty in Pittsburgh. Both trees did have the habbit of reblooming at the end of the summer, but most buds did not open fully. I used Betty in both locations as part of the foundation landscape at the corner of both houses. The tree was easy to prune to keep from getting out of controll near the house. |
| Phyllis | Apr 01, 2009 | I've had Magnolia 'Ann' growing in my zone 5 garden in Spokane, Washington for over 15 years and repeatedly, she reblooms sporadically throughout the summer until the fall frosts! When I took branches with blooms in to my teacher for an Ikebana class (Japanese flower arranging) she couldn't believe her eyes and wanted to know how I had gotten it to rebloom. I design gardens and this is one deciduous shrub I always try to include in client's gardens! I even think the flowers look better when the tree has all of its beautiful foliage on.
|
| Charlie | Apr 08, 2009 | I've got a Betty Magnolia growing in Nova Scotia, Canada. Buds just starting to grow today, apr8-09. Seems to handle our winters no problem.
Submit your plant sightings into a community science database at JUNPonline.com , great new site for plant enthusiasts. |
| Tracey Patrick | Jul 09, 2009 | I have been looking for a magnolis for my garden. I wanted something to remember my mum, she passed away in April...Her name was Bette (not Betty)what a purfect plant even the name matches..Well almost. |
| Betty | Jul 21, 2009 | The blooms on this Magnolia Betty look much like a Tulip Tree - which I have in my front yard. Does anyone agree with me? |
| Mary w | Jan 19, 2010 | I had a Betty where I used to live, in West Virginia--by now it's a good twelve feet high. It reblooms every year in the fall but I wouldn't say the bloom is continuous. |
| Patt | Jul 31, 2011 | I have Magnolia Jane growing in North Ga. It stands about 5 ft tall now and is getting fuller each year! The early pink/purple buds are so welcome in Spring. Mine was covered in blooms this year! |
| Betty Smart | Jun 25, 2012 | My husband purchased two Betty magnolias, set them out on the west side of our house approximately two feet from a brick wall. The bushes leaves are turning brown and don't look healthy. What can I do to them to help them to be healthy?what are the watering and food requirements? thank you for any information that you can give me.
Especially in their first year after being planted out, the root space of the magnolias should be consistently moist (but not soggy). The reflected heat from the brick wall will tend to increase any drought stress on the young trees. I would make sure the trees are well mulched, and then provide deep watering once or twice per week through the hot season. Unless your soil is exceptionally acidic or alkaline, it should not be necessary to feed the trees this year, although you might apply a general-purpose organic fertilizer for some gentle feeding. |
| Joan L | Jun 27, 2013 | Thanks for your informative site! I just purchased 2 Betty magnolias last night (half-price!) They are just over 5' tall and about 4' wide - definitely shrubs. I live in St. Louis MO (zone 5) and was wondering about wind protection. Is it really critical? I want to plant these along the edge of my lot, privacy from a neighbor. One is under the shade of an oak but will get afternoon sun - sheltered by the neighbor's garage from wind. But the other one will be in a property-edge border, lots of sun and "out there." Thanks for any help!
Our Betty is in a pretty exposed position in the middle of our back yard, and does fine. But you are one zone colder than us, and may have stronger prevailing winds, so you're closer to the limits of its hardiness. Still, I think you should be OK – buds should be hardy in the cold of winter, and leaves don't appear until the weather is reliably warm in mid spring. You may lose the flowers occasionally to a late freeze, but the tree itself will likely be fine. |
| Midge | Sep 27, 2013 | I have a Betty that is about 7' tall. It blooms in spring before the leaves, in the summer a couple times, and even in the fall when the leaves fall off! It's now the end of Sept here in SC, and it in bloom! Love it! |
| Ken bernstein | Feb 22, 2014 | I just bought a betty....will it do well in Houston?
I think it should do OK, once you have it established. Make sure to keep it well watered through its first season. |
| Mary | Jul 07, 2014 | Hi I had a star magnolia back in Nova Scotia Canada and she grew well but now that I moved to New Brunswick I went and bought a betty Magnolia there is a great nursery not far from my place and they have lots of Betty's and other varities of the beautiful tree's.I just purchased my betty just after she bloomed this spring and hoping after reading some of the comments on here maybe just maybe she'll bloom again for me they are the most gorgeous trees I ever saw. |
| Racquel | Mar 27, 2015 | I purchased my shrub about 7 years ago. It is blooming now without any leaves on the plant - 3-25-2015. Salt Lake City, Utah had a very mild winter this year. I have never had it bloom at any other time in the summer. How can I promote blooming again? It is so beautiful. Mine only blooms once a season. |
| Jeanne | Apr 10, 2016 | I have 3 Magnolia trees approximately 5' tall. They have a beautiful tropical looking purple flowers. They all get direct sunlight. However due to unusually warm weather in March the trees started to bud and then bloom. Recently we got a blast of a wintery cold spell that froze the trees and killed the buds and flowers. Will they bloom again and how can I keep them blooming more then once a season? I live in Pittsburgh, PA.
That's a risk you take with magnolias around our temperate zones. Many modern azalia hybrids will rebloom a bit through the year, but you lost the main flush for this year. I don't think there's much you can do about that. Fertilizing now may encourage more rebloom this year (but don't overdo it). Good luck. |
| Diann | Jun 08, 2016 | I am looking for a tree to plant as a privacy block from a campground below our house. However, it will be planted under other trees and will get pretty much shade. There is just some open space we want to close up. We planted Rhododendrons and the deer ate them, so we also need deer resistant as they pass through there every day. |
| Larry | May 10, 2017 | I have a Brown Betty Magnolia tree This spring it has started leaves turning brown and falling off we had a bad spring hot and cold when it normally gets warm and goes into summer what might I do to not lose this beautiful tree
Keep your fingers crossed... Avoid anything that would put additional stress on the tree, but beyond that I don't know of any specific measures for reversing its decline. |
| Lisa | May 17, 2019 | Hello, I want to put a Magnolia tree in front of my house as an ornamental tree. Around me (Zone 6), I have been only seeing 2-3' trees for purchase. About how long does it take for Betty to reach about a 5-6' height? If it takes too long, I may look for another variety. Thank you!
If it's happy, I think it would get there in about three years. |
I welcome comments about my web pages; feel free to use the form below to
leave feedback about this particular page. For the benefit of other visitors
to these pages, I will list any relevant comments you leave, and if
appropriate, I will update my page to correct mis-information. Faced with an
ever-increasing onslaught of spam, I'm forced to discard any comments including
html markups. Please submit your comment as plain text. If you have a
comment about the website as a whole, please leave it in my
guestbook. If you
have a question that needs a personal response, please
e-mail me.
|
