the planting of a magnolia is an important event in any garden and in the life of any gardener. it will be there, increasing in splendour every year, long after the planter is no longer able to admire it. the choice of a magnolia to plant is therefore an important decision. until quite recently, it as a simple matter. there were the species and their varieties, and there were the hybrids raised by the Chevalier Soulange in France after the napoleonic wars when the cavalry officer turned to plant breeder.
foreword