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OSC and I don't agree on anything within the political sphere, but I've always enjoyed reading his reviews on life, must-have products, and entertainment (with the exception of American Idol which has no redeeming qualities in my eyes).
However, it just broke my heart to hear that OSC hates magnolia trees. Had I a big enough truck, I'd go and rescue the one he's preparing to cut down. Mind you, I am living in Louisiana where the magnolia is as much an institution as pelicans and crawfish.
However, compared to the trees which spray so much pollen that I can't leave my house half the year, the pine trees that cover my lawn in needles, and those annoying trees with the round spiky balls I always step on while walking the dogs....magnolia trees are a godsend. They don't make me sneeze, the leaves are more easily raked than needles, and the blossoms when cut make my bathroom smell nice and look pretty.
As for crepe myrtles, my childhood home in Texas had one planted right below my bedroom window. In the pictures from when my parents first bought the house, it was a lovely colorful tree. However, over the years it grew without restraint and no matter how much we trimmed it, it couldn't be tamed. By the time I was in middle school, I couldn't see out my second-floor bedroom window. During storms, the branches would tear against the windows making the most awful high-pitch scraping sound that still haunts me.
So, I guess I'll just bow my head in a moment of silence for the soon oncoming loss of a beautiful southern tree.
Posts: 1733 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I love all trees. I can't even think of a tree I don't like. Maybe those stinky ginko trees, but I've never smelled them because the ones around me don't smell and they have lovely fan leaves. Magnolias are awesome. The movie, not so. My grandmother had one in her backyard I loved and a maple tree she cut down to my dismay.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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There's a tree that looks exactly like a "screw pine" but the tips and edges of its leaves are spines that really hurt. I must say it's a very unpleasant tree.
Magnolias are kinda nice, but they are indeed messy.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I used to live in the south (I do now, again, in a different place). For the longest time, there was a smell outside our back door that had a vague odor of feces. It turned out to be the blooms of the giant magnolia in the backyard.
As bad as pine trees are (They are horrible!), pine needles will eventually be swept aside by foot traffic in a yard, or vehicle traffic in a driveway or road. Magnolia leaves stay forever. They're like styrofoam in their durability. I think the DoD should look into designing armor based on the structure of the magnolia leaf.
It is the only leaf that has caused me pain when falling from a tree and hitting me.
Posts: 684 | Registered: Jun 2002
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Granted I'm from California where we have less magnolia and more Oak and other drier climate trees, but don't the leaves eventually just turn sort of brownish and fall apart? Or do they just linger forever in a static state? That wouldn't seem to make a whole lot of sense from an ecology standpoint. Do they perhaps turn to a fine green paste of leafy goodness?
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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There are a lot of Magnolia's in Seattle (which is as far from the south as you can get and still be in the continental US). I think they are beautiful when in bloom and I never noticed any smell associated with them. My neighbor had a magnolia and it didn't seem to make more mess than any other deciduous tree.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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There are many different species of magnolia. Some of them are awesome, others not so much. Some species do better in the north than others. There are even some that can grow in parts of Minnesota, although they're not the same ones that grow in Mississippi.
I wouldn't want a stinky tree or a tree that drops the equivalent of sharp-edged paper plates on my head; I would take one of the ones that smells good or is good for kids to climb.
My least favorite yard tree would be anything that produces copious quantities of fruit that the dogs will eat and then yack up on the carpet.
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quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: Granted I'm from California where we have less magnolia and more Oak and other drier climate trees, but don't the leaves eventually just turn sort of brownish and fall apart? Or do they just linger forever in a static state? That wouldn't seem to make a whole lot of sense from an ecology standpoint. Do they perhaps turn to a fine green paste of leafy goodness?
Of course they decay, eventually, but not before piling up like discarded cd's.
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Some species do better in the north than others. There are even some that can grow in parts of Minnesota, although they're not the same ones that grow in Mississippi.
