Magnificent Magnolia

This magnificent magnolia tree sits right outside my door. You can see the corner of my one story house so you get a idea of how big this tree really is. Most people would probably say they would love to have a magnolia tree in their yard, but this is one tree I love to hate. The work it dishes out to me out weighs the beauty of it by far. Right now the tree looks a little thin because it has already lost a lot of leaves with the recent winds and rains. But new ones will replace those. The blossoms are beautiful but each one only last a few days. After the petals on the blooms dry up and fall, the the pods begin to grow and fill out with seeds. These pods will stay on the tree through most of the summer and then begin to fall producing several bushels of pods that have to be picked up and kept out of the grass because they are brutal to lawnmower blades. The pods will fall all during the winter and must be cleaned up before grass cutting time in the Spring. By the time all the pods are gone the leaves start falling and continue to fall through the Summer. These too have to be raked up constantly. So this tree actually produces a year round job. Even with all this work, this tree will continue to grace this yard until nature decides to take it out.

©jp2008 _________Click on the photos to enlarge them