Re: [gardeners] Re: This weekend

Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sat, 07 Mar 1998 06:51:09 -0700

>>.....
>>Magnolia souleiana (can't spell)
>
>Sounds like a great  Spring so far with everything blooming.  Read that
your Magnolia is
>in bloom and thought you may be familiar with a problem I'm having with my
Magnolia
>tree, which I believe is a Star Magnolia.  For the last 3 years , after
it has bloomed and the
>leaves have started to grow, the leaves start becoming wrinkled and seem
dry.  They
>remain green all season and don't fall off til the fall.  The tree must be
at least 25-30 feet
>tall and seems very healthy. The owner of a local nursery tought it may be
a fungus caused
>by the leaves starteing to grow before the flower petals have completely
fallen off.  He
>couldn't offer  a treatment.  Will try our county cooperative extension
again(didn't get a
>reply last year).  As an aside, a smaller tree(~3feet) that I started from
seed doesn't have
>this problem, but it hasn't bloomed yet.  Wondering if my tree misses the
south and just
>doesn't like these northern winters.  Good luck with your garden  this year.
>
>Long Island George - Zone 7 
>
Is your tree getting enough water?  Are the nutrients in the soil okay, or
have they been depleted?  This is supposed to be a trouble-free tree,
according to Dirr.  It should be all right in zone 7, according to
ForestFarm, whose catalog has three different magnolia stellatas, two hardy
to zone 5 and one to zone 6.  Margaret