Saturday, March 7, 2009

Today's Flowers - Tulip Magnolia


Tulip Magnolia
Family: Magnoliaceae
Genus: Magnolia
Species: x soulangeana


The Tulip Magnolia tree in my back garden is is blossom, complementing the brilliant yellows of the daffodils and the hardy Forsythia on the ground below.

Neighborhood squirrels must like the taste of the unopened blossoms. Recently, I have seen squirrels balanced precariously at the budding ends of even the smallest of the limbs and, unfortunately, I found quite a few unopened flower buds lying on the ground beneath the tree, with squirrel-sized bites taken from them. Still, my tree has many beautiful pink-purple blossoms on it, and with those I shall have to be content.


Today's Flowers is a weekly Meme created by Luiz Santilli, Jr. and may be found here. Please visit to see others' lovely flower photos. If you have a flower photo of your own to share, please join us.

33 comments:

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

Oh, that's beautiful. Is that really in bloom now?

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Beautiful picture of the Tulip Magnolia, Pat. I love the PINKS in spring also--in addtion to the yellows. Great picture for Today's Flowers.
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

I'm jealous -- you have magnolias in bloom already? This is a beautiful picture and makes me want to see blossoms like that in our yard. I'm sorry the squirrels are so hungry!

अविनाश said...

lovely flower ..informative post

Huzhar said...

Such a beautiful flower, not only human like the flower, but also the squirrel.. :)

Rose said...

That is beautiful...we still have a ways to go before any trees start blooming. But it is coming!

Snap said...

I have a space in Musashi's garden that is calling for a tulip magnolia. A Japanese maple, however, may win out! We used to have a red passionflower vine (before a frost several years ago). The squirrels would take the blooms off the vine, peel the petals off, and eat the inside. Little buggers!

Countrygirl said...

How pretty! What a great sight - it just made me feel happier just looking at it!

Anonymous said...

I love your soft shot! Wow! I could sleep in there...:D

dot said...

Sounds like you have a lot going on in your yard. I'm wondering if that's the same as a plain tulip tree? Beautiful shot!!

kayleen said...

Love the way the edges of the photo are blurred. I always look forward the the tulip magnolias blooming.

VALKYRIEN said...

I can see somenone say they are jealous of the magnolia blossom already...I have never seen it at all!

Simply beautiful flower - and you did a wonderful job photografing it! Love the softness in the image!

Carolina said...

Oh Pat, that really is a beautiful picture!

Lilli & Nevada said...

I don't think i have ever seen one before they are beautiful, wonder how hard they would be to grow?

Leora said...

Your photo is quite the charmer, with the bits of blur on the sides and the center in focus.

Arija said...

A beautiful flower and obviously a glorious tree. Glad to see that there are enough flowers fr both you and the squirrels, they must be hungry for something fresh.

Anonymous said...

Just beautiful..
Your Tulip Magnolia is in bloom ..
Great picture for Today's Flowers.
Thank you for sharing!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Pat: You made a neat capture of this pretty flower.

Anonymous said...

Wow! This is gorgeous. I love the soft pink and the soft focus. Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Lovely! Thanks for sharing!

david mcmahon said...

Our magnolias bloom in September! Really enjoyed the composition of your Sky Watch shot, Pat.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a gorgeous blossom. I wish they were more hardy so I could grow them.

My Today’s Flower’s post is at
More of Me - EG

Naturegirl said...

Pat: this is simply gorgeous! Happy day!From Az.! NG

Reader Wil said...

I always found the magnolia a very grand magnificent tree. The colour of this flower is so exquisite! Thanks for sharing and for your visit as well.

Country Girl said...

Oh, Pat! This is beautiful. So ethereal.
If there are just bites taken out of the blooms, do you suppose they just like the pink color?

Kidding.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful sign of Spring! :)
Lovely!!!

rhymeswithplague said...

We have Tulip trees all over north Georgia but I haven't seen one in bloom yet this season. A friend with a biology/botany degree from Wake Forest told me thirty years ago it was a Magnolia salangeana (the traditional huge-white-flower magnolia is the Magnolia grandiflora), but your spelling is more intriguing. However, I checked this page from the Magnolia Society and couldn't find either the type with your spelling or my spelling anywhere in the list.

I wonder why not?

Hilary said...

Beautiful shot. They appear so velvety soft. We won't be seeing those for at least another 6 weeks.

Jeannelle said...

What a treat to see this beautiful blossom. And, to hear that you have other flowers blooming in your yard, too.

I once was acquainted with a lady whose name was Blossom.

Luiz Santilli Jr said...

Pat

Wonderful and so delicate flower!
Thanks for posting!

Luiz

RA said...

What a wonderful magnolia. I love its soft colors. Thank you for sharing :).

Suldog said...

Interesting. At our previous residence, we had a tree in our backyard that bloomed lovely little white flowers - not sure of the species - and the squirrels would do the same as you describe. I thought it was just our crazy squirrels :-)

Dina said...

Squirrels eat them, really?!

To answer your comment question: visitors to a grave put a pebble on it as a sign of respect and love.