Michelia x ‘Bubbles’

Michelia 'Bubbles' (Magnolia x 'Bubbles', long grown and still widely sold as Michelia) is an evergreen screening tree with a real perfume, a combination most hedging plants cannot offer. It reaches about 4m tall and 2.5m wide, holds glossy dark foliage all year, and opens rounded cream and white flowers through spring that scent a courtyard on a still morning. The roots are non invasive, so it can go along a boundary or near paving.

Why you'll love it

• Fragrance you notice from metres away. The cream flowers carry a sweet perfume through spring, strong enough to fill a courtyard or a front entry.
• An evergreen screen at 4m by 2.5m. Tall enough to block an upstairs window, narrow enough to sit along a fence line without swallowing the bed.
• Roots that stay out of trouble. Non invasive, which makes it one of the safer screening trees near paths, driveways and services.
• It clips well. Dense branching and moderate growth mean it takes shaping into a hedge, a column or a standard without sulking.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1.5m apart for a dense screen. At that spacing the canopies knit while each tree still furnishes to the ground, which is what stops a screen going bare at fence height.

Topiary and shaping. It holds a clipped column or a standard neatly, and the leaf looks rich rather than fussy when cut.

Growing Michelia 'Bubbles' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, though it grows well in part shade with a lighter display. It suits subtropical, warm temperate and cool temperate gardens and is humidity and wind tolerant. It takes light frost only, so protect young plants for their first two winters, and avoid it where hard frosts are the winter norm.

Soil. Well drained and slightly acidic, with plenty of organic matter through the bed. Like all magnolias it dislikes lime and will not tolerate waterlogging, so on heavy clay plant on a raised mound.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper off. Feed a slow release fertiliser in early spring and again in late summer.

Pruning. Trim after flowering finishes in late spring, then again in late summer if you are holding it as a formal hedge. It can be held anywhere between about 2m and its natural 4m.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in a single size, a 45L container. That is an advanced plant, already branched and carrying real height on day one, which matters if you want a screen working sooner. It also means a hedge run is a considered investment, so work out your plant count at 1.5m spacing before ordering.

Evergreen plants of this size travel with their foliage on, and a little leaf bronzing after transit is normal rather than a fault. Stake it for the first year on a windy site. Expect a quiet month after planting, then steady growth of roughly 30cm to 50cm a year. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The complete guide to magnolia care in Australia
• Compare the magnolia and michelia collection
• Other hedging and screening plants
• More fragrant plants for an entry or courtyard

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Any tighter and the lower branches shade each other out, leaving gaps near the ground.

Is it a magnolia or a michelia?

Botanically it is a magnolia. Michelia was folded into the genus Magnolia some years ago, but the nursery trade kept the old name because gardeners know these evergreen, perfumed types by it.

Can I keep it at 2m as a hedge?

Yes. Two light trims a year hold it at 2m to 2.5m, and because you are cutting into leafy growth rather than bare wood it stays dense from the base up.