When the garden was in its infancy some of the early plantings struggled because the soil was not very well prepared. Some plants died. A large, free-form bed was planted with a named birch, some birch whips, a special rhamnus, a metasequoia and a banana – an eclectic mix to say the least. Most have done well, after a slow start, and I have to admit that the metasequoia has become my favourite tree in the garden. In fact I admire it so much I have planted another. I also planted a magnolia. I had intended to plant a lot more magnolias and, in fact I did, but not all have done well – some died. I splashed out on this bed and planted Magnolia ‘Peachy’. It was a small plant but it did not die.

Last year, perhaps because of the warm weather, it actually grew very well. I cut off the sucker at the base, growing from the rootstock and, by the end of summer, I could see some fat buds at the ends of the shoots that definitely promised blooms, the first since it was planted six years ago. I was excited.

‘Peachy’ is an unusual cultivar. It is a hybrid of M. acuminata ‘Fertile Myrtle’ and M. sprengeri ‘Diva’. It is an American hybrid named in 1994. The parents have given the flowers their strange mix of yellow and pink. I chose it because it is unusual and I waited with excitement for the first buds to open. In the intervening years, however, I have seen images of this and its sister ‘Apricot Brandy’ and came to the conclusion that the flowers, far from being beautiful, look the colour of an old bruise.

The blooms have nine petals and the outer few are flushed with yellow while the inner ones are much pinker. A notable feature of the flowers is their really nice scent. And seeing them in person I decided I like them, though I can’t argue that it is better than plain pink. Of course, the opening of the flowers coincided with Storm Dave which ripped through the garden but ‘Peachy’ is planted in one of the most protected parts of the garden, which may be why it has done reasonably well and, despite some broken petals, the flowers were not destroyed.

And so we have about 20 flowers open or opening. I will make sure I feed it to give it a boost after the effort of blooming and encourage strong growth this summer. In the adjacent bed I have M. acuminata ‘Blue Opal’ which, if it flowers, will also have strangely coloured flowers, but it is still small and I will have to wait a few more years for blooms. But I have learned that patience does pay off and in the meantime I hope to see lots of ‘Peachy’ flowers in the intervening years.

magnolia acuminata, magnolia peachy