Lisa Manning

Garden Club of Nashville

“Jubilant! Everything works together: the bloom, the leaves, the stem.”

Plant Material: Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan', Japanese flowering cherry

Length of ownership: Fourteen years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions: Berm home-composted irrigated bed with partial-full sun. No use of chemicals or pesticides.

Georgina Horsey

Georgetown Garden Club

“Beautiful, healthy blooms.”

“Diminutive stem detracts.”

Plant Material: Prunus serrulata 'Kanzan', Japanese flowering cherry

Length of ownership: Twelve years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions:  Southeast corner of a walled garden.

Grania Allport

Garden Club of Somerset Hills

“Well-balanced; bloom in all stages; intensely colored.”

Plant Material: Magnolia x soulangeana, saucer magnolia

Length of ownership: 22 years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions: The Magnolia x soulangeana was planted by our barn in spring 1999 where it is sheltered from the north and facing west. It has endured several major challenges. In 2007 we had to dig up a buried gasoline tank during construction, which was right beside the tree and in 2019 it had a very heavy infestation of scale where we had to physically scrub it off the tree. After the scale infestation we hired a tree company to root fertilize it every spring with a proprietary formula. It has been very healthy since then just enjoying rain water.

Susan Anton

Garden Club of New Haven

“Well-balanced; exhibiting all stages of early growth.”

“Would have been helpful to see entire branch.”

Plant Material: Magnolia stellata, star magnolia

Length of ownership: Fourteen years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions:  Part sun, acid soil, fertilized with compost, bark mulch.

Barbara Tuffli

Woodside-Atherton Garden Club

“Marvelous branch of a healthy, abundantly flowering Davidia.”

“Close to perfection!”

Plant Material: Davidia involucrata, dove tree

Length of ownership: 25 years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions: My 30' tall Davidia involucrata grows in full sun in garden loam. The soil is slightly acidic with a pH which ranges from 5.5–6 on our property. The tree gets regular garden water with additional deep root water monthly in our dry summer months. Annually it receives a generous application of well-decomposed compost.

Glenn Shaw

Greenwich Garden Club

“Promising branch awaiting an open bloom.”

“Time will resolve issues of bloom.”

Plant Material: Magnolia stellata, star magnolia

Length of ownership: Seven years

Propagated by Exhibitor: No

Growing conditions: Partial shade. Well-drained loam soil.