First of all, it sounds like good news that the only thing that got hurt was the magnolia tree.
Yellow magnolias are a hybrid created by grafting on another rootstock or “scion.” When your tree was sheered by the tractor, the hybrid potion of the tree was destroyed, but the scion remained, and that’s what grew. The simple answer to your question is that to enjoy yellow magnolia flowers, you’ll need to plant another hybrid; there are many to choose from.
Thanks to our friends at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for confirming our answer on this one: they are known for creating the yellow magnolia hybrids beginning in the 1950s; below is link to information about the garden’s magnolia hybrid breeding programs: https://www.bbg.org/article/eight_magnolia_hybrids_bred_by_brooklyn_botanic_garden
Dear Terri,
First of all, it sounds like good news that the only thing that got hurt was the magnolia tree.
Yellow magnolias are a hybrid created by grafting on another rootstock or “scion.” When your tree was sheered by the tractor, the hybrid potion of the tree was destroyed, but the scion remained, and that’s what grew. The simple answer to your question is that to enjoy yellow magnolia flowers, you’ll need to plant another hybrid; there are many to choose from.
Thanks to our friends at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for confirming our answer on this one: they are known for creating the yellow magnolia hybrids beginning in the 1950s; below is link to information about the garden’s magnolia hybrid breeding programs: https://www.bbg.org/article/eight_magnolia_hybrids_bred_by_brooklyn_botanic_garden
—The Editors