I've had Magnolia macrophylla for 8 or 9 years. It was bought as a 15 cm
plant in a 15 cm pot, and repotted every couple of years until it was in
a 25 cm pot. About 3 years ago, when it was around 1.5 metres high, it
was planted in the ground. This year it has flowered for the first time:
http://tinypic.com/r/2ihr11s/9

There are 5 more buds about to open (a further bud was broken off by the
wind). The plant is about 3 - 3.5 metres high. It's not quite so
spectacular a flower as M. grandiflora, and it has only a slight scent.
But it is big; the flower in the photo is 30 cm across!

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Jeff