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What
southerner doesn’t love the southern magnolia? But as much as they are esteemed,
they are not all that common in the landscape because they get so very big. Not
so with Little Gem Magnolia. It is a compact version of the old southern
favorite that grows about the size of a dogwood so can find a home in any
garden. Little Gem Magnolia has the shape, leaf appearance and flowering
qualities of the typical southern magnolia, but with a more manageable scale.
The evergreen leaves are about half the size of the typical magnolia. The
clove-scented flowers are about half size, but they are produced in abundance
from early summer until fall. Little Gem is very precocious, producing blooms on
very young trees. Little Gem Magnolia can be used as an accent plant in the
mixed shrub border, as a background plant for screening, as a specimen near the
entryway or plunked down in the middle of the lawn like its larger brethren, but
with less of a commitment of space. 