Bigleaf Magnolia In Cabbagetown!

May 21, 2008

My friend, Arty Schronce, is a plant enthusiast and one I admire greatly because he knows so darn much about native plants and flowers. He works for the Georgia Department of Agriculture and is a great guy. He and a group of other plant folks rescued a bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) from a site in Gwinnett County that is now a shopping mall. This magnolia is a rare species found only in a few states in the Southeast and it was getting ready to be bulldozed for a mall. The plant has the largest unsegmented leaves of any tree in temperate North America!

Arty’s bigleaf magnolia finally bloomed this year and the picture is below. It is gorgeous! Arty’s neighbor, Mr. Clack, is holding the ruler for us to see how big this thing really is! Congrats Arty for saving such a great plant!