Looks like a Magnolia tree to me
Ceany

Ill be watching for your answer now that you have all our thoughts. I agree tho -if it smells heavenly-it could be a gardenia.

Pretty sure it's not a gardenia. At least it doesn't look like the ones in my back yard.

Please let us know what it is when you come back from the garden store. I'm curious

I'm with tartan on this one, sure looks like it belongs to the gardenia family.

Looks like a magnolia. The seed pod, flower and leaves all argue for it. Do the Master Gardeners in your area have a periodic plant help desk? Ours is to the local library once a week during the growing season.

In not, personnel at a plant nursery can probably give you a definitive answer.

What's the verdict????? Looks like my magnolia .....

Looks just like our Magnolia tree 15 feet from our front door. There are many different sizes and varities. Our tree was only about 12' tall for a long time at least 10 years, and leaned north. HD tied it to a pine tree and every time rope got a little loose, he pulled it tighter. At the end of a year, tree stood up much straighter, and has grown a good 10 or feet more sinced it was straightened. I want another but they want $150 here for a little one, over our budget. Now I am working on trying to grow some from seed pods.

It is a magnolia. The leaves also indicate it is a magnolia.

It is a magnolia......perhaps a Bay Magnolia.

delma