Those sweet magnolias blossom

Spring is late this year but at last the magnolias are staging their pink and white displays; the flowers of some species reach a third of metre in diameter.

Introduced from the Americas and the Far East, magnolias are cultural icons everywhere. Mississippi calls itself ‘the Magnolia State’ and Houston is nick-named ‘the Magnolia City’.

A begonia was named after Kim Jong-il on his 46th birthday in 1968 but, despite the dictator’s deification, Siebold’s magnolia remains North Korea’s national flower.