Magnolia tripetala

For a hint of the tropics from a very hardy tree, the 'Umbrella Tree' provides a really exotic effect. A North American species forming a small tree with huge papery leaves up to 50cm long and 25cm wide. Fairly large strongly scented cream flowers with slim tepals are sporadically seen over a long period in summer, followed by ornamental and conspicuous bright red seed cones; in fact the latter are the most ornamental in the genus. For reasonable shelter in decent soil, due to the big leaves, this can be either single or multistemmed.