One of the most well-documented effects of climate change is altered phenology (Forrest and Miller-Rushing 2010). Of particular interest is the phenology of flowering because of its importance to reproduction, ecology, and the interaction of plants with other species (Forrest and Miller-Rushing 2010). Many previous studies reveal that there is a general trend of earlier flowering with warmer spring temperatures (Fitter et al., 1995; Miller-Rushing and Primack, 2008; Fitter and Fitter, 2002; Parmesan and Yohe, 2003). Contrary to this general pattern, however, a significant number of species delay flowering or are seemingly unaffected by warmer spring temperatures (e.g., Bradley et al. 1999; Fitter et al., 1995). In many of these studies, preformation, the initiation of structures one or more years prior to maturation, may influence phenology, but the process is not well studied. We examined dormant floral buds from a selection of Magnolia species to pursue two questions: First, what stage of development are the floral buds in winter dormancy? Answering this question will provide baseline data necessary to answer the larger question of how woody species that exhibit preformation might be affected by temperature increases imposed by climate change (Diggle and Mulder, 2019). Second, by investigating development, dormancy, and flowering time in the spring, we asked whether there is a relationship between floral developmental stage during dormancy and flowering time the following spring. In other words, do species with dormant buds in more advanced stages of development ultimately flower earlier than those with dormant buds at earlier stages?  At dormancy, flower buds of each species bore all floral organs, but the later blooming species were significantly smaller and had less morphological development especially in the carpels. Additionally, in earlier flowering species, microspores were evident in anthers and ovule primordia were initiated while in late flowering species sporogenous tissue had yet to differentiate and carpels were not fully formed.