You usually smell a port wine magnolia before you see it. Michelia figo carries small cream flowers edged in maroon that release a sweet, fruity scent on warm afternoons through late winter and spring, and it does it on a compact evergreen frame that clips into a hedge as happily as it stands alone. It is the michelia most Australians actually plant, and it behaves nothing like the big Magnolia grandiflora cultivars.
Quick facts
| Detail | Port wine magnolia (Michelia figo) |
|---|---|
| Mature size | 2 to 4m tall by 2 to 3m wide in most gardens; old specimens reach 5m |
| Position | Full sun to morning sun with afternoon shade; shelter from hot dry wind |
| Soil | Free-draining and humus-rich, slightly acidic at pH 5.5 to 6.5 |
| Water | Moderate; a deep weekly soak through the first two summers, less once established |
| Climate zones | Subtropical Brisbane, coastal and inland Sydney, Perth, and temperate Melbourne with shelter; hardy to about -3°C once settled |
| Flowering | Late winter through spring, with scattered blooms into summer |
| Growth rate | Slow to moderate, roughly 20 to 30cm a year |
Choosing the right michelia
Michelia and Magnolia are now treated as the same genus, which is why you will see the port wine magnolia sold under both names. What matters in the garden is that michelias have small leaves, small flowers and a shrubby habit, while the evergreen magnolias have large leathery leaves and dinner-plate blooms. Our overview of the types of magnolia trees grown in Australia sets the two groups side by side.
For a fragrant hedge or screen
Michelia figo is the traditional choice at 1 to 1.2m spacing, and it takes shears well. The Fairy series is the modern alternative: Fairy Blush is denser and finer-leafed, flowers heavily from a young age and holds a neat 2.5 to 3m wall of green with almost no shaping. Both keep their leaves through winter, so the screen never thins out.
For a courtyard or a large pot
Michelia Coco stays near 2m and suits a 50cm pot in a sheltered courtyard where the scent can collect. Feed it more often than a garden plant and repot every third year.
For a small feature tree
If you want height rather than a hedge, Silver Cloud Michelia grows to 6 to 8m with much larger white flowers in late winter. It needs a genuinely sheltered spot; the flowers brown quickly in wind. The rest of the range sits in our magnolia and michelia collection.
How to plant
Autumn and early spring are the two best planting windows. In Brisbane you can plant almost year round provided you can water through the first summer. Avoid cold wet soil in July in the southern states.
Dig a hole twice the width of the pot and no deeper than the root ball, so the plant sits at the level it grew in the container. Michelias resent being buried. Loosen the sides of the hole rather than glazing them with a spade, and mix compost through the backfill. In heavy clay, plant 5 to 10cm proud of the surrounding soil and mound the bed instead of digging a sump the roots will drown in. Our guide to preparing soil before planting covers the drainage test worth doing first.
Water in with a seaweed tonic, then mulch 5 to 7cm deep with a coarse bark or sugar cane, keeping the mulch a hand span clear of the trunk. For a hedge, run a string line and space plants 1m apart for figo and 80cm for the Fairy hybrids; the temptation to plant tighter usually produces a thin, bare-legged hedge five years later. The spacing principles in our guide to creating and maintaining a hedge apply directly.
Ongoing care
Watering
For the first two summers, one deep soak of 10 to 15 litres a week beats daily sprinkles, because it draws roots down instead of holding them at the surface. Established plants in Brisbane get by on rainfall plus a fortnightly soak through January and February. In Perth sand keep water up during dry spells; michelias wilt visibly and recover, but repeated wilting costs you the next flowering.
Feeding
Feed twice a year: once in early spring as the flower flush begins, and again in late summer. A controlled-release fertiliser formulated for azaleas, camellias or gardenias suits them, because those blends are acidic and include iron. Michelias are light feeders, and a heavy dose of high-nitrogen lawn fertiliser produces soft leafy growth at the expense of flowers.
Pruning
Prune immediately after the main flowering flush finishes in late spring. Michelia figo sets next season's buds on wood produced over summer and autumn, so a late-autumn or winter cut removes the flowers you were waiting for. For a hedge, tip prune two or three times between November and March, taking no more than 10cm each time. For a shrub, remove any inward-crossing branches and shorten the longest shoots to a bud facing outward. Old, bare-based plants respond well to a hard renovation cut back to 60cm in early spring, but expect to lose a season of bloom.
Common problems and fixes
Yellow leaves with green veins. This is iron or manganese lock-out, and it is almost always a pH problem rather than a shortage in the soil. It shows up fastest in beds near a new concrete slab or where builders' rubble was buried. Apply chelated iron for a quick response, then correct the underlying soil with elemental sulphur or an acidifying fertiliser as set out in our guide to lowering soil pH.
Sticky leaves and black film. That is sooty mould growing on honeydew excreted by soft scale or pink wax scale, both of which cluster on stems and leaf undersides. Spray thoroughly with horticultural oil at the label rate, covering the undersides, and repeat in three weeks. The mould washes off once the scale is gone.
Few or no flowers. The usual causes are too much shade, pruning at the wrong time of year, or too much nitrogen. Michelias flower on wood that ripened in good light; a plant crowded by a fast-growing neighbour will grow but not bloom.
Frequently asked questions
Is a port wine magnolia the same as a magnolia?
Botanically, yes. Michelia figo has been reclassified into the genus Magnolia, so nurseries list it as both Michelia figo and Magnolia figo. In the garden they behave very differently: the port wine magnolia is a small-leafed shrub with 3cm flowers, while a grandiflora magnolia is a large tree with flowers the size of a side plate.
How fast does a port wine magnolia grow?
Slowly by hedging standards, at roughly 20 to 30cm a year once established. A 300mm pot plant will take three to four years to form a usable 1.5m screen. If you need privacy faster, plant a larger grade or use it behind a temporary screen rather than trying to force it with fertiliser.
Will it grow in full shade?
It survives in shade but will not flower well, and the growth becomes open and leggy. Morning sun with shade from about 2pm is the sweet spot in Brisbane and Perth. In Melbourne and Adelaide, give it as much sun as you can.
Does the scent carry?
Yes, but only in warm still air, and it is strongest in mid to late afternoon. That is why the plant works best beside a path, a doorway or an outdoor seating area rather than at the back of a block. Our roundup of the most fragrant plants for Australian gardens covers where else to place scent.
Can I grow one in a pot long term?
Yes. Use a 50cm or larger pot with a premium potting mix, feed at half strength every eight weeks through the growing season, and repot or root prune every three years. Potted plants need water far more often than garden plants, particularly on a hot west-facing balcony.
Ready to plant?
A port wine magnolia earns its place on scent alone, and the fact that it doubles as a dense evergreen hedge is a bonus. Browse the full fragrant plants collection to see what else flowers alongside it, or go straight to the magnolia and michelia range to compare sizes. If you are still weighing a michelia hedge against the usual options, our guide to alternative hedging plants lists ten more with heights and growth rates.
