Description:

A wonderful magnolia for small yards, featuring deep yellow cup-shaped flowers in spring on a spire-like columnar habit of growth; flowers appear late, after danger of frost is past; an excellent specimen for tight spaces and smaller home gardens

Ornamental Features

Sun Sprite Magnolia features showy fragrant gold cup-shaped flowers with pink streaks held atop the branches in late spring. It has dark green deciduous foliage. The large pointy leaves turn yellow in fall. The fruits are showy pink pods displayed in early fall.

Landscape Attributes

Sun Sprite Magnolia is a deciduous tree with a strong central leader and a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit. Its relatively coarse texture can be used to stand it apart from other landscape plants with finer foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sun Sprite Magnolia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Vertical Accent
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Sun Sprite Magnolia will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 60 years or more.

This tree does best in full sun to partial shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It may require supplemental watering during periods of drought or extended heat. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.