Outdoor Wednesday (1), Magnolias

Today, I am participating in Outdoor Wednesday, hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer.  Please feel free to hop over and join us to see other beautiful outdoor shots.

This is the first year that my magnolia tree has been in full bloom.  Since we planted it, I've only gotten 1 to 2 blooms per season.  This year though, I have had continuous blossoms.  Her fragrance is intoxicating!

Majestic flower! How purely beautiful
  Thou art, as rising from thy bower of green,
    Those dark and glossy leaves so thick and full,
      Thou standest like a high-born forest queen
        Among thy maidens clustering round so fair,--
          I love to watch thy sculptured form unfolding,
            And look into thy depths, to image there
              A fairy cavern, and while thus beholding,
                And while thy breeze floats o'er thee, matchless flower,
                  I breathe the perfume, delicate and strong,
                    That comes like incense from thy petal-bower;
                      My fancy roams those southern woods along,
                        Beneath that glorious tree, where deep among
                          The unsunned leaves thy large while flowercups hung!
      - Christopher Pearce Cranch,
        Poem to the Magnolia Grandiflora