I think you need to look up Magnolias and find out how many types fall into that category, when the certain types bloom, shape of the different types, flower size of the different types, height differences of the different types, and zone differences. Such as the wonderful "teddy bear" magnolia, if you ever see those leaves you'd be blown away. Some magnolias their flowers are larger than a dinner plate, some such as the star magnolia is a small type.. some blooms prior to its leaves, some blooms after its leaves. Its all about reading up on stuff. Well before these type of "garden forums" ever began, that is what I did --- gather books from the library on certain species of plant, trees, shrubs and read about them. It truly is fun to do. For me especially in the winter months, then I would have a logical list of what to buy that would "work" on my property, that was the right height, and bloom time etc of what I wanted to achieve.