Ooops there goes another rubber tree plant

We have been living in zone 7 for 9 years. For those of you with green thumbs this might excite you , with all the possibilities of gardens of grandeur. But if you know Sheila and I at all, then you know that those green thumbs were not inherited from our very talented parents who have had lush gardens and plantings of their own. Only recently have I tried to start to reclaim our yard, especially the weed-infested creek that will be tackled very soon. The Bradford Pear trees (which smells like an convience store urinal) that hid our house were taken last year by the power company. The hosta's that are in front of our front porch are by far our biggest success, we could actually divide them into thirds and replant them elsewhere. But that is a task for this fall, along with planting a few leyland cypress trees. So we are trying to do what we can for now.

But this post is about a rubber tree, or so we thought. Since we have lived here the "rubber tree" has only dropped leaves the size of a "nerf" football, fortunately they disintegrate nicely once mowed. But, alas this year we were surprised to find blooms (the size of an egg) on the tree. Finally last week the blooms started popping open. What do you know, we have a magnolia tree with quite a nice fragrance that we get to smell daily.

The flowers are quite large,I am guessing probably 9 or 10 inches. We are hoping it blooms even more next year to help add to our curb appeal.

My theory is this: This one lowly Magnolia tree that we have which is about 25 feet tall was just laying in wait. Being a good tree it knew that an inferior and pungent tree like the Bradford, of which we four. We have eliminated three of those monsters, and the fourth will hopefully be leaving next year. With less competition around, "Maggie" the Magnolia decided it was her turn to shine, and grace us with a better odor than that of a litter box.

Bye Bye Bradley... Hello Maggie