I need your help this morning. I've been looking at my Magnolia 'Jane' thru the kitchen window the last few dreary days, and thinking to myself, "it doesn't look good." Look at this photo taken today and notice how bare the branches are:
You may remember that I purchased this magnolia last year and never got around to planting it. It overwintered in the nursery pot until I finally put it in the ground this spring. At first, everything seemed fine. It even put out a few beautiful pink blossoms. Sometime over the summer tho, a change occurred (I don't remember when exactly) and she started looking a bit stressed and lost most of her leaves. (Even tho I complained about a lack of heat, I think it was a great summer for planting shrubs and trees ~ there was certainly abundant moisture which isn't always the case). When I inspected 'Jane' up close this morning, I was surprised to find new growth/buds (??) along all her branches:
I guess I'm never satisfied because although I should be thrilled to find out she's not dead, I am now worrying whether this is a good thing late in the season as it is??? Anyone out there that grows 'Jane' know the answer? If we get a killing frost anytime soon, I hope it doesn't permanently set her back. Until I found out about 'Jane' I never dreamed I could grow a magnolia in this climate/zone. Now that I've discovered her, I definitely don't want to lose her.
On a different subject entirely, look what was crawling across my driveway this morning (as I was leaving to take my daughter to school):
A snail! Woo hoo. He was headed in the direction of my little pond. I've never seen a snail in my yard before so I don't know where he came from but I'm thinking my tiny water habitat drew him in??? I helped him along by moving him nearer to his destination and out of harms way. We'll see if he sticks around now.