Magnolia stellata 'Centennial Blush' PP22248

Centennial Blush magnolia puts on a heavy flower show. The flowers are blush pink and fragrant like nice Italian soap. Each flower has a double row of petals so that it looks like a porcelain powder puff or (dare we say?) a chrysanthemum, like those in a Japanese print. Dr. Michael Dirr, who bred the plant when at the University of Georgia, counted 50 to 60 tepals per flowers. That's a lot of tepals! Aside: magnolia "petals" are botanically called "tepals". We are roused back to life when we see Centennial Blush flowering in the heart of winter. It's one of the first trees to flower every year - February in North Georgia, along with or just ahead of all the other early birds like saucer magnolia. If you're looking for Centennial, this is a seedling of that cultivar and is a good replacement, due to its showier nature. It's a newer tree, so don't know ultimate size yet, but at estimated 20' tall it may be a little shorter than its parent. Centennial Blush star magnolia is another First Editions® plant developed in Georgia.