I love magnolias and have always looked forward to them blooming where I could touch them from my deck, but this year, 2007, after the buds were starting to open a winter storm hit and they all turned brown without blooming. First year there were no flowers, except for a few a couple weeks later. It looked so strange seeing black flowers on my magnolias. I hope it's not an omen of things to come. So, this is photo is really from 2006. Hope next year is better.