Magnolia stellata. This 40 or so year old star magnolia in my neighbor's yard has had its good years and poor years. One time years ago when the house was changing hands, the new owner came outdoors with a saw and began to clear shrubbery. I reenacted "Woodsman Spare That Tree" with tales of the fragrance and promises of a beautiful flowery show in the spring, and he just trimmed it up a bit.
The gnarled old Henry Lauder's' Walking Stick (on its own roots, not a graft) was not so lucky.
For insurance I gathered seed from the magnolia and now I have my own tree growing in a bed in front of my house. In its third year of bloom my seedling tree is not as impressive as its mother, but working on it.
I detest chain link fences, but the cedar fence that was there when we bought this house is long gone, and the neighbors in that house always have dogs so it is probably as well. I remember reading somewhere (maybe advice from one of our best garden writers, Allen Lacy?) that if you want an ugly thing such as a chain link fence to disappear, paint it black. Sounds like gardening advice from Mick Jagger.
