Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)

Hardy, deciduous to semi-evergreen, Eastern North American tree
Description: Fragrant, creamy-white, cup-shaped flowers open in early summer, followed by slender-seeded, cone-like fruit; leaves have a distinctive silvery underside on multiple stems.
Habit: Grows 10 to 40 feet high and wide.
Culture: Prefers full sun to part shade and moist, but well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Hardiness: USDA Zones 5 through 9
Origin: North America
Attributes: Fragrant flowers, showy fruit, rain garden
Jefferson documented

Thomas Jefferson planted Sweet Bay trees adjacent to the house at Monticello and also observed the species flowering on May 22, 1808. Sweet Bay was the first Magnolia cultivated in European gardens. It was introduced to England from Virginia by John Bannister in 1688. In 1705, a pioneer natural historian from Virginia, Robert Beverly, wrote of the blossoms: "The pleasantest smell in the world." This was the most common Magnolia sold by American nurseries early in the 19th century. zone5,zone6,zone7,zone8,zone9