Our selections

Over the years, we have selected and named many interesting plants. Most of these selections come from our own seeds and crosses or from crosses performed by other enthusiast colleagues. They can however also originate from plants that we bought or received as gifts. These are only named after years of observation and comparison, when they seem to show exceptional qualities and are worth commercialising.

Some of the Magnolia crosses below were made by Dr. August Kehr (1914-2001), emeritus researcher of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and rightly named as one of the giants in the world of horticulture. As an active member of the American Rhododendron Society and the Magnolia Society International, he contributed for several decades to their yearly seed lists. Knowing how much time it would take to sow, flower and evaluate his last crosses, he sent about 15 seed packages to Wespelaar, which were sown in 1992 and flowered about 7 to 10 years later, depending on the crosses. Dr. Kehr’s goal was to create hardy yellow late-flowering Magnolia’s. Of the 110 seedlings which were planted in our nursery and later on in the Arboretum, around 10 plants have been selected, named and commercially propagated.