Magnolia yunnanensis Gails Favourite

Michelia yunnanensis 'Gail's Favourite', also known as Magnolia laevifolia Gail's Favourite, is an unfamiliar bush related to Magnolias, with modest dimensions and a slow growth rate. Its upright habit is compact and dense. It has beautiful evergreen foliage, which is dark green and glossy. In spring, it displays velvety, golden buds that open into large, cream, fragrant cup-shaped flowers adorned with prominent yellow stamens. This flowering is followed by decorative fruiting in pink pods filled with shiny purple seeds. A rare gem ideal for small gardens or in a large pot on a patio or balcony.

Michelia yunnanensis is a bush closely related to the Magnolia, native to China as its name suggests, and belongs to the Magnoliaceae family. Michelia yunnanensis 'Gail's Favourite', also known as Michelia laevifolia 'Gail's Favourite', is a small, dense and bushy tree with a loose crown and a pyramidal silhouette. It has evergreen foliage composed of ovate and rounded, glossy and leathery leaves in a beautiful dark green colour. The undersides of the leaves are velvety brown. Slow-growing, in our climate it reaches 2 to 2.5m (7 to 8ft) in height and 1 to 2m (3 to 7ft) in width. From April to May, its branches are adorned with velvety camel-coloured buds, which open into large cream corollas, magnified by a light-yellow prominent stamen heart, emitting a delicious lemon scent. The flowering is followed by decorative fruiting in the form of pink pods, opening to reveal shiny purple seeds.

'Gail's Favourite' is perfectly suited for small gardens. It can even be cultivated in a large container on a patio or balcony, with regular watering. In the garden, it can be placed alone on a lawn, but also planted in a group of bushes or at the back of a flower bed. It will also find its place in a flowering hedge. This species is easily shaped into topiary art. Combine 'Gail's Favourite' with perennial plants or bushes with white and yellow flowers to brighten up flower beds or hedges! It will be stunning when planted with a rhododendron, a Chinese azalea, a magellan fuchsia, a Japanese anemone, a hydrangea, a Korean forsythia, or a symphoricarpos.