Plant Encyclopedia

Description:

A beautiful magnolia whose large flowers are a stunning pastel pink; a small tree with a neat, columnar form and large relatively coarse leaves; flowers appear before the foliage and persist well; an ideal landscape or garden accent

Ornamental Features

Daybreak Magnolia is covered in stunning fragrant rose cup-shaped flowers with pink overtones held atop the branches in mid spring before the leaves. It has green deciduous foliage. The large pointy leaves turn coppery-bronze in fall.

Landscape Attributes

Daybreak Magnolia is a deciduous tree with 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.

Daybreak Magnolia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade

Planting & Growing

Daybreak Magnolia will grow to be about 30 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 3 feet from the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 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 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.