Magnolia x brooklynensis 'HATTIE CARTHAN'

Magnolia Hattie Carthan was named in honour of an environmental activist (what a terrible term) of the same name, or simply said an African American lady (1900-1984) who settled in Brooklyn, New York, in 1953, and enthusiastically involved herself as well as the whole community of Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood in saving quickly disappearing trees and in raising money for planting new trees all over the block. She was called The Tree Lady and is still today remembered as one of the pioneers of city beautification.

Hattie Carthan magnolia was bred by Doris Stone from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden by cross-pollinating several unnamed m. x brooklynensis hybrids (m.acuminata x magnolia x liliiflora) and ‘Evamaria’ variety. The result was a stunning magnolia with firm flowers of elongated tepals. They are 10-12 cm long and 6-8 cm wide, pale yellow with purple veins ascending from the base. They come out late in the season, commonly from the very end of April, and as the flower buds mature and open gradually the blooming time is extended to about 3 weeks and always escape late spring frosts.

It grows rather slowly into a neat, narrowly pyramidal habit, forming a tall shrub or a medium-sized tree about 5 m tall in gardens and almost 8 m tall in parks with unlimited root space. Deciduous leaves are ovate to obovate, medium green. Hattie Carthan magnolia was introduced around 1985 and it turned out that owing to genes of m.liliiflora in its veins the safest and most stable way of reproduction is grafting. Only so it will look as described.

Magnolias are not supposed to be pruned. You can prune old shrubs if ill, or trim them to shape or to reduce size, or make an elementary cut to young plants of unsightly or unhealthy appearance. Do this as soon as possible after flowering to secure setting of flower buds for the following year. Be aware that each magnolia can respond differently to pruning.

Deciduous magnolias are quite easy plants. All they need is light, well-drained, acidic soil with equal moisture throughout the year. Once established they can do with occasional drought but will not look as nice as the ones with regular watering. Just pay attention to how you plant your magnolia. First, find it a spot where it will live forever and ever. It does not like transplanting. And as it makes shallow roots reaching well over its spread, stay away from disturbing the roots by digging or messing about around it. Just cover the soil with bark mulch and do not plant anything else near it after say the second year after planting onwards. You could damage the important top roots that absorb maximum moisture and nutrients from the soil. Also avoid planting magnolia too deep. Thus, you could be digging it a grave. Hardy is abt. -29 °C (USDA zone 5).

Last update 08-12-2020