In front of our house, we have a beautiful Magnolia tree (magnolias americanus). Although it is relatively common in our neighborhood, which has been around for awhile - the tree is not very common in general in Indiana. It is also a tough tree to count on to bloom each year - I think we have a 50% each year of the tree fully blooming before a frost comes and turns the new petals to black muck.This year was one of those middle years, where it kind of bloomed, and then kind of frosted, and then kind of turned black. This is the best picture we had.
Also interesting enough, Magnolia trees that were a little more than two blocks to the south or north of us, actually had a pretty good year. And we think the major reason why was because a hail storm had come through in March 2006 in that exact area. We'll see if next year is better.
