I used to live in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. Legend has it that the neighborhood was named by sailors, who saw a bluff covered with beautiful white flowers. Thinking they were magnolias, they named it Magnolia bluff. April Fools on the sailors! They were actually madronas – an endemic Pacific Northwest species with a beautiful mottled red bark and exquisite white flowers.
But the joke is on the natives. Madronas are a sensitive species. They don’t transplant well and they are sensitive to soil conditions and disturbances. Magnolias do grow well here, and they are very pretty. Nowadays you are more likely to see a magnolia in flower in Seattle than a madrona.
