Hardy and elegant, the southern magnolia is a wonderful addition to any Nashville yard! It offers a wide range of benefits, such as beautiful, fragrant flowers and bushy evergreen foliage that provides privacy, shade, and an animal habitat year-round. Here, we’ll go over the “D.D. Blanchard” cultivar, which produces the large, creamy white blossoms Nashvillians know and love. Read on to learn all about this superb species and its place in the neighborhood landscape!

Our Tree of the Month: The Southern Magnolia

Magnolia Grandiflora “D.D. Blanchard”

Native to the Southeast, the southern magnolia is a beloved and iconic local plant. Tennessee is about as far north as the southern magnolia grows, so we shouldn’t be shy about planting these special trees around town!

Its scientific name, Magnolia grandiflora, refers to the tree’s large leaves. The “D.D. Blanchard” cultivar produces the particular waxy, emerald green leaves with a coppery underside that can be found on these bushy trees. The leaves are evergreen and remain on the tree year-round. The dense foliage of a southern magnolia can provide shade and privacy when planted in front of a window or in a row along the property’s edge. While the foliage grows right down to the base naturally, southern magnolias can be trimmed to expose the lower trunk to take the shape of a tree (there is an adage that a tree is a shrub that you can walk under!).

As a native tree, southern magnolias provide important habitats for local wildlife. The big flowers produce pollen and nectar that attract bees, other insects, and hummingbirds, who pollinate other trees and flowers across the area. These trees are also a food source and place of shelter for squirrels, opossums, cardinals, mockingbirds, and other tree-dwellers who rely on the magnolia’s fall seeds and year-round cover for safety and sustenance.

Southern magnolia trees don’t produce fruit; instead, they make cone-like structures that put out bright red seeds. Magnolia trees aren’t coniferous! Trees that produce true cones don’t have flowers because their pollen is contained in the cone. The southern magnolia’s seed pods emerge in late summer, and the seeds drop and are eaten over fall.

In addition to providing beauty and ecosystem services to the landscape, the versatile southern magnolia tree can also handle urban and suburban environments! The southern magnolia likes full sun but can tolerate some shade, it’s adaptable to almost any soil type, and, being a southeastern native, it can withstand both flooding and drought.

How Fast Do Southern Magnolia Trees Grow?

Although it’s bushy, a southern magnolia “D.D. Blanchard” is no shrub! This magnolia tree will grow to a mature height of 70 feet, reaching up into the canopy at a growth rate of about one to two feet per year. These grand trees can grow up to and over a hundred years, and as they mature, they produce a striking visual form unique to the southern magnolia. 

When Do Southern Magnolias Bloom?

Magnolia trees are related to tulip trees, as both belong to the Magnoliaceae family. Both trees have large, cupped flowers that bloom in late spring throughout May and June.

Southern Magnolia Trees in Nashville, TN

The southern magnolia is widespread across the south, but there is lots of planting potential for this tree across Nashville! Check out the “D.D. Blanchard’s” listing on the Nashville Tree Conservation Corps’ tree sale page to purchase one for your yard. Consider volunteering with us to help plant and care for trees in the city, or donate a tree for us to plant in an open space! 

NTCC relies heavily on donations from residents and businesses to cover the expenses of fulfilling our mission. Our work is made possible by the community (even our management team is made up of volunteers!), and all contributions go toward expenses related to implementing our mission. If you’re able to donate to NTCC, we appreciate gifts of any size, all of which contribute to the maintenance and protection of Nashville’s canopy!

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