Pink and white flowers against a deep blue sky
Flowers,  London,  Themed galleries

Gallery: the magnificent magnolias of March

The claw

Of the magnolia,

Drunk on its own scents,

Asks nothing of life

Sylvia Plath, Paralytic

When I included some magnolia flower images in my recent monochrome spring flowers post it was to celebrate their sculptural forms in particular. But while black and white really emphasises those forms, draining them of colour isn’t to everyone’s taste. And to be honest the shapes are just as beautiful and distinctive in colour; while the different shades from pure white through delicate pinks to deep reds and purple are equally worth celebrating.

So here is a gallery of colourful magnolias, some shot this morning especially for this post, others from the archives. You may recognise some of the latter from their monochromatic incarnations!

The magnolia trees opened their great globe-like blossoms of folded ivory, and filled the air with a sweet heavy perfume

Oscar Wilde, The Birthday of the Infanta

I also experimented with the vintage filters in Color Efex Pro and rather like the results.

Delicate edit of pale pink and white flower
Magnolia flower, Ealing, 2022
White star-like flower
Magnolia flower, Ealing, 2022
Delicate edit of pale pink and white flowering tree
Magnolia tree, Ealing, 2022
Delicate edit of pale pink and white flowers
Magnolia tree, Ealing, 2022

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