Did I see moonlight and magnolia trees? Smile again, my darling, if you please. Did I hear music on a warm spring breeze? Speak again, my darling, if you please. – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (1915-1998)
That magnolia state got a hold on me, I got no blues to preach just Mississippi company. – Elton John, British singer-songwriter and pianist (1947- )
There’s just something about a magnolia tree that catches one’s attention. The name “Magnolia” becomes someone’s name, a place, a song, a painting, and a poem. We have a Magnolia growing in front of the house between us and the lake. Some mornings when it’s just me and Wilhelmina, we sit on the front porch chairs looking at the trees but mostly the magnolia. Her leaves are falling, being pushed out for new leaves. The fallen leaves look like the soles of a shoe, they’re thick, covered with wax, large as a hand, and shiny. The new leaves pushing out are deceiving. Before the new leaves appear, they are rolled up and layered by a thin white sheath. One would think the white sheath would become a flower, but it does not. It protects the new leaves and then falls to the ground. The magnolia bloom will come later.
Arbor Hills Tree Farm in Nebraska posted some Magnolia tree facts. The Magnolia tree is the state flower for both Mississippi and Louisiana. There are up to 210 species of magnolia trees. According to Arbor Hills’ “The iconic southern magnolia is often considered the gold standard of the genus, but magnolias, particularly the deciduous varieties, can be grown in almost any region of the U.S. The color of the flowers will depend on the species and can be white, yellow, pinkish, purple, and green.
It takes a good deal of back-breaking work to clear the leaves from the ground. We use rakes to gather the leaves onto an old bed sheet; then release the leaves into the woods. Sam also created a tool from an old wooden handle by hammering a nail into the handle to jab the leaves and drop them into a bucket and out to the woods. The remaining leaves will be squashed by the lawnmower also called “mulch mowing.” Breaking down the leaves into small pieces, return nutrients to the soil thus providing a natural fertilizer. Also using the mower is less strenuous than hauling leaves to the woods.
The strong low-lying branches on the Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) and evergreen leaves make for good climbing experiences with children and cats. Our last two cats, Harry and Wilhelmina, learned to climb in the magnolia tree where the low limbs are thick and sturdy.
In November 1900 schoolchildren across Mississippi voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Southern Magnolia as the state flower. In 1935 schoolchildren selected Southern Magnolia as the state tree, a choice that the legislature ratified on April 1, 1938. Perhaps the children saw the benefit of a tree with low limbs, thick and sturdy.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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