Magnolia x loebneri Wildcat

Magnolia x loebneri 'Wildcat' is a wonderful American hybrid variety, with large double flowers in a very light pinkish white: sublime. This deciduous shrub is quite accommodating and hardy, flowering in April, 1 to 2 weeks after M. stellata, thus reducing the chances of the flowers being damaged by late frosts. These flowers appear along the bare branches, as if covered in huge snowy pompoms. They emit a subtle lemony fragrance. Pleasant in autumn, the shrub takes on a beautiful golden hue before the leaves fall. Like all loebneri hybrid magnolias, this variety flowers as soon as the plant reaches 1 metre (3 feet 4 inches) in height and proves to be easier to grow in many regions.

Magnoli x loebneri, from the Magnoliaceae family, is a horticultural hybrid obtained by cross-breeding the M. stellata, probably the most floriferous of the genus, and M. kobus, of good composition, both Japanese and showing slow growth and moderate development. The cultivar 'Wildcat' is a selected hybrid in the United States by Larry Langford Gibson. This excellent variety has been awarded the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit. It is a small bushy tree, widening over time due to its flexible and slightly trailing branches. Its growth is quite slow, reaching an average height of 3 to 4 metres (9 feet 10 inches to 13 feet 1 inches) and a spread of 2 to 3 metres (6 feet 7 inches to 9 feet 10 inches) at maturity. It can be grown as a bush or as a many-stemmed or single-trunk small tree. The flowering takes place before the appearance of the leaves, in March-April depending on the regions, usually 2 weeks after the flowering of M. stellata. The 10cm (3.9in) diameter flowers are produced abundantly. They are slightly fragrant, composed of about fifty spatulate petals, quite wide, of a pale white washed with pink. The flowers as well as the flower buds are less sensitive to late frosts than in other Magnolias. The slender branches bear deciduous foliage, dense and very healthy, emerging bronze green, becoming quite dark green in summer, then golden in autumn.

With its origins in Japan, Magnolia x loebneri 'Wildcat' is very hardy. Plant it in isolation in your garden or in the company of evergreen shrubs such as Rhododendrons, camellias, and Azaleas if your soil is acidic, or with Viburnums, Forsythias, Japanese quince, and lilacs in slightly neutral to slightly calcareous soil. In a Japanese-style garden, combine it with cloud-pruned Ilex crenata. Owners of large gardens can plant a group of 3 specimens not far from a pathway, their mass of white flowers will create a striking tableau in spring! Loebneri magnolias are particularly highlighted against a dark background such as a yew or Thuja hedge. The combination of a 'James Roof' Garrya elliptica, adorned with silky catkins, and the 'Wildcat' Magnolia covered in large white pompoms, should create a magical scene in March, if the beginning of spring is mild.