Plants I'm growing: First Blooms--Michelia yunnanensis

First blooms on the Michelia yunnanensis on the southeast side of the house opened today. The plant continues to look precarious. It would fall over if unstaked, but it seems to be holding its own. I have read that the botanists have completely redone the magnolias and relatives so that Michelia is now considered part of the genus Magnolia and that this plant is now called Magnolia dianica. Whatever you call it, it's a compact shrub or small tree with dark leaves and large, creamy white flowers that I find very attractive. Actually, as magnolias and their relatives go, the flowers are quite small--about two inches across. The flower buds are covered with a red-brown fuzz, as if they were all dusted with cinnamon (visible at upper left in the photo). The plant is native to southern China--Yunnan Province, I imagine--which is why I prefer the original Latin name. Also, Yunnan is evocative of tea. Being a tea lover, that probably contributes.

Michelia Yunnanensis is supposed to do well here, but this one has been slow to get established. I continue to coddle it and hope for the best. There's a beautiful one at the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park (just outside the little sitting area beside the library) that's probably in full bloom now.