BANANA SHRUB

Do you have this shrub? If not you need to run and get one! This is banana shrub, or banana magnolia, or michelia figo- whatever! As you can see it is blooming now, and the whole garden smells like banana kisses- remember eating those when you were a kid? This shrub is only supposed to get about ten feet tall and eight feet across, but when I lived in the Delta a friend of mine had one that came over the top of the house and covered most of the side it was on- but then she lived on the bayou with all that GOOD dirt. I have never seen another that large, I am just saying it is possible. The blooms are not very large and people are walking around trying to find what is smelling so good .This tree takes absolutely no care, has no pests that I have ever found, and the rest of the year after blooming it sits quietly making a good background for something else. Did you notice all the yellow pollen all over the leaves, now if I was a really good photographer, I would have hosed them off. HA-HA-HA-right.