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April 03, 2006
Magnolias, Not Dogwoods
Apparently I learned nothing from the Macy's Flower Show last year or from decades of living in The Garden State, because I can't tell dogwoods from magnolias. Rose kindly informed me that the collection of photos I had so carefully named "Dogwood Bloom #1", etc. were not, in fact, dogwoods at all. They're magnolias. Magnolias? I guess we had a magnolia tree in the backyard, not a dogwood? Damn. And that was one of the few blooms I thought I could identify! Now I only know daffodils (although I was a bit shakey on that until recently), rhododendrons (I even know how to spell that), forsythia, and roses. That's it. This is pathetic. It's going to take a while for the magnolia knowledge to stick, too, since I've been calling those trees dogwoods for at least 15 years. The rest of the blooms I see fall into the "flower" category. This is another area of grown-up knowledge I somehow haven't quite acquired, along with filing my taxes and starching the linen (oh, and making meringues -- they didn't come out so well).
Posted by csageday at April 3, 2006 02:03 PM
Comments
I didn't learn about flowers until I started gardening! And I totally disputed someone who told me that this very tree was a magnolia, around twelve years ago. I grew up in Louisiana, the magnolia state, and our magnolias don't look anything like this. For one thing, they are evergreen! And the flowers are white, and the size of dinner plates. I thought someone was sadly mistaken, but then I looked it up and found the someone was me. Oh well!
Posted by: Rose at April 3, 2006 07:17 PM
Ah, so many varieties of ornamentals - magnolias and magnolias and magnolias all looking different. Then there's tulip trees (who understands them?) And I hate to even mention, but don't try to figure out the difference between azeleas and rhododendrons. But my mister still doesn't always get tulip/rose right, so I still feel slightly ahead of the game.
Posted by: Amber at April 4, 2006 02:13 PM
Thanks -- that makes me feel better. Not even Google images can seem to agree on what's what -- search for magnolias and you get a variety of things. No wonder. And, tulip TREES? Tulip trees. That sounds odd. I should look that up. I have been hearing the word azaleas since childhood but have absolutely no idea what they may be. This is definitely suburban-dweller knowledge. Oh, and I'm jealous that you've got gardening experience, Rose. I'm sure I'd be a terrible gardener (I can't keep two hardy house plants healthy), but I'd love to grow edible things.
Posted by: Cindy at April 4, 2006 09:55 PM