Magnolia Stellata in Autumn

THE MAGNOLIA— IS REALLY MAGNOLIA STELLATA

MAGNOLIA STELLATA IN SPRING

This is plant I called a magnolia tree earlier in the WriteOut 2022, but it is really the Magnolia Stellata—star magnolia. It is a shrub cultivated in Japan and now is planted all over the world, sometimes spreading on its own. It does look like a small tree, though, because it grows up to eight feet tall. And the blossoms bloom before the leaves in early spring.

Above you see some of the “pussywillow” type buds and one early, waxy blossom in April of 2018. But soon, all those buds will bloom, often before the leaves providing a beautiful and much needed color from the doldrums of winter.

MAGNOLIA STELLATA LEAVES SKETCH

I decided I would sketch the leaves and those buds I thought were pussywillow because of their fat and furry nature.

MAGNOLIA POETRY

Of course, we must include a little poetry…

Magnolia Stellata in Autumn

Waxy green leaves of star magnolia
turn a soft yellow with each cool day;
soft pussywillow-like buds seem to sing
“my leaves will drop, but just wait until spring!”

Sheri Edwards
10.06.22 281.365.22
Poetry/Photography

What is WriteOut?

This post is part of my participating in in this year’s “Write Out”– a joint venture by the National Writing Project and the National Park Service to encourage people to get outdoors. This year’s Write Out is STEAM- Powered (STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) from October 9-23, 2022. It’s free. It encourages writing and making and sharing about your own experiences with the outdoors in a local event, on your own, or with the Write Out activities you can find here. My journal writing, of which some will appear on this blog, can be found on my education blog: What Else WriteOut.

Flickr WriteOut Album — WriteOut since 2018

1316 days of posts in a row on Ask What Else