Magnolia

Sun. Magnolia’s white, fragrant flowers and perfect upright posture earn it an outsize role in Southern horticulture. Even the leaves are smooth and glossy, with velvety red texture underneath. Magnolia is fast-growing and makes a nice shade tree in the right setting.

On their own, magnolias attain a pyramidal shape and a fairly large size; big specimens can be seen along the Riverwalk and in deep soils around the Olmos Basin. However, the enormous, shallow root system requires deep, moist alluvial soils — magnolia can’t thrive as easily in dry, rocky sites like northern Bexar County.