Magnificent

Bits and pieces by Lois

Magnolias flower so briefly and yet they are so glorious when they do; and even when they have shed their flowers, for a while the separate petals are wonderful to pick, soft, velvety. like a lovely fabric, but sadly a lovely fabric that turns brown and withers.

There are several in our village, big trees which have a few days of looking magnificent before the wind takes their flowers. Most magnolias are deciduous and they usually flower in the spring on bare branches.Some, however are ever green and they flower later and then in the autumn have wonderful pods with bright red bead-like seeds.

I’d love to have a magnolia, but I don’t think our soil is right, and we are in a very windy position; we are at the top of the road and across the fields from the other end is the sea and the wind comes straight off it and rushes over to batter our garden… so no magnolia for us! I once bought my mother-in-law a magnolia stellata such a pretty little thing with its flowers really looking like bright stars; sadly the council gardeners mowed it down…

There are many different species of magnolia, named after a Frenchman, Pierre Magnol; he was a very famous seventeenth century botanist but he didn’t discover the magnolia, it was a contemporary French botanist called Charles Plumier. Just imagine if Plumier had been less generous; these beautiful, fabulous trees could have been called plumiers!

Photo0216[1]

10 Comments

  2. David Lewis
    Reply

    I always think of the southern states when I hear of magnolias sort of like mint juleps and tennessee Williams. I just depend on the kindness of strangers too.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lois
      Reply

      I love belly pork – however its cooked, roast, fried, casseroled… the best flavoured part of the pig! I’ve never tried grits – they are definitely on my to try list… I wonder if they have them in New jersey where my daughter is?

      Like

  4. David Lewis
    Reply

    Not sure never went there. The one thing about grits is what to put on them. Butter and salt and pepper or sweet with honey or molasses. I sure love that southern accent and Texas ladies are my favorite. Yaawl come back now here.

    Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.