Cucumber Tree Magnolia Pods

We recently walked through the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minnesota which was quite a beautiful place.  The leaves on the trees here had just started changing colors and I noticed one tree in particular had large pods on it.  The name of the tree was a Cucumber Tree Magnolia and it also had pods on the ground that had fallen.

I had never heard of this type of tree ~ have you?

It was a beautiful tree with large leaves and, of course, these large pods. The tree can grow 60-80 feet tall with a 35-60 foot span.  That’s quite a large tree!

This magnolia prefers full sun but tolerates partial shade and needs deep, moist, well-draining soil that is slightly acidic.

Being adventurous, I bent over and picked up a pod thinking that perhaps I could plant the seeds when I returned home.

These trees obviously need a large open space to grow, but I wondered if it can be grown as a bonsai. That’s what I’m hoping although I’m going to try growing it both indoors and out.

After doing some internet research, I learned that these pods require a lot of patience to grow ~ even as much as a few months before seeing a seedling.  Well, why not?, I asked myself.

The first thing I had to do was let the pod sit on the table until it started to “pop” out these red seeds.  This requires the pod to get very very dry.  Not a hard thing to accomplish in Minnesota but I waited 2 weeks for the red/orange-ish seeds to start popping through.

After most of the red-orangish seeds start to pop out, I carefully pulled them out.  Then I had to remove this orangish cover to get to the actual seed which is a dark brown ~ almost looks like a coffee bean to me.

I took a paper towel and simply rubbed the outer cover off of the seed.  It didn’t take long at all.

Here’s a closer look at the seed.

Next I had to make a choice on how I wanted to get the seed to “hibernate” for the winter.  They need to be at around 40° Fahrenheit.

I decided to go the “refrigerator” route which required I put some wet dirt in a plastic bag, add the seeds and refrigerate.  The seeds should not get dry.

And now ~ the waiting begins. In March I hope to plant the seeds in small containers ~ one to try to grow as a bonsai and the other ~ well, I’m not sure yet as we have so many trees on our property that finding a perfect place for it will be tough.  But, who knows, some of our trees might be felled by the time this seedling is ready to be placed outside.

Wish me luck!

UPDATE:

It’s been 3 years since I tried this experiment and a reader asked if the experiment worked.  Unfortunately, it did not.

When I took the seeds/dirt out of the refrigerator in the spring of 2017, I allowed them to come to room temperature on a table.

I then planted them and left them in the sunniest spot I could find indoors on a windowsill.  They never sprouted.

If I’m fortunate to find them again, perhaps I can try now that I live in a house that has plenty of sunshine.