Little Star Shine Bright

This little Star Magnolia has been glowing with its yellow, orange and brown fall colours all week.  It's cousin, a Saucer Magnolia in our front yard, was also magnificent, but lost all its leaves in one day.  This little tree in the more sheltered rear garden flowers first in spring and goes longer into autumn than the big Saucer Magnolia.

Star Magnolia

The textbooks tell us that Magnolias should not survive Ottawa's harsh winters, but here in the Glebe neighbourhood with the sheltered near courtyard conditions there are a couple of dozen beautiful specimens.

This little magnolia tree was surrounded by overgrown volunteer trees when we purchased this home 5 years ago.  It was quite misshapen from the shading of another tree very close by.  We removed the scrub around it and now it is a specimen tree - the star of the rear garden.  It has filled in nicely and rewards us with white blossoms every spring.