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.
this book is, so far as i know, the most comprehensive treatment of every aspect of magnolias ever made available to cultivators. it includes much material that will be new to most readers. importantly, it is backed up by the professionalism of the author, who has served in five botanic gardens and who is now curator of the royal horticultural society's great garden at wisley. he is also president of the magnolia siciety, and he has travelled worldwide to study plants, both in their native habitats and in cultivation.
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