2013 Theodore Klein Plant Award Winners

ll Magnolia’s fragrant white flowers are seen in early spring.  Magnolia xloebneri is a deciduous small tree frequently grown as a large shrub that resulted from a cross of M. kobus and M. stellate which Michael Dirr says in the Manual of Woody Landscape Plants “The hybrids are among the most beautiful of all magnolias—“.  Merrill magnolia is the best of those hybrids.  It is hardy over a broad range - seeming from Georgia to Canada, maintains a height of between 20 and 30 feet, has such a profusion of blooms that it appears as a mountain of white, grows to mature size quickly, has attractive medium green foliage, roots easily from softwood to semi-hardwood cuttings taken in early to late summer and has (not always) typical somewhat showy magnolia red fruit hanging from the follicles by threads in the fall. The cultivar is named for Elmer Drew Merrell, eminent scientist, Director of The New York Botanical Garden,1929 to 1935, and Director of the Arnold Arboretum, 1935-1946.

Information resources:Dirr, Michael.  2009. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: (6th Edition).  Stipes Publishing, Champaign, IL

Magnolia × loebneri 'Merrill'. Accessed April 15, 2015.  http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=249471&isprofile=1&basic=loebneri  

Propagation: Accessed April 16, 2015 https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/details?plantid=1229 

More on Elmer Drew Merrill Accessed April 16, 2015 http://arboretum.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/I_B_EDM_2012.pdf

Magnolia Society Accessed April 16, 2015 http://www.magnoliasociety.org

Image: Win Dunwell