'Bewitched' Connections

Tonight, we sat down to watch something on Charter's (ugh!) Starz "On Demand," (it was finally working, after another few hours of "E5218: System Unavailable..." messages). So, for those of you that aren't familiar with the menu system: for the first couple levels, while you're drilling down through various options, they've got promos for other movies you can "rent" playing on the top half of the screen. Then, after you get to a certain level, the promo video disappears, but the audio keeps going. (OK, now this is for everyone again, whether you're familiar with the menu system or not.) So, after I selected our movie, Bewitched, it came up to the Bewitched info screen, where you can read a little bit about the plot, watch the preview, or play the movie. As soon as I get there, I heard the audio for a "Pride & Prejudice" promo in the background: "you have bewitched me, body and soul."

Another possible interesting connection with this movie follows. I worked another event for the Casino Night people today. It was a long event, and since it was on the other side of town, I borrowed my Mom's vehicle to get me there so my family wouldn't be without our truck the whole day, (my Mom has another vehicle). When the event was over, I returned my Mom's truck to her garage and walked home. On the way, I was struck by, not one, but two of these very interesting trees, the same kind, in front of two different houses about 1.5-2 blocks apart. The trees blossomed with large white petals, with purple highlights... Aw, screw it! Why go to all the trouble of trying to describe it, when I could just throw on my pants and shoes, go out into the rain at 1:00 AM, walk a couple blocks to one of the houses, grab a few of the many petals that have fallen from the tree on to their lawn, bring them back home and take a picture of them? That's not weird or anything, is it? So, having done that now, can anyone identify this tree? (That's a quarter in the upper left-hand corner. I know, Wikipedia says not to use coins for reference, but I couldn't find a ruler at the moment.) It really is a beautiful looking tree, though I must say this is far too early for it to be losing so many of it's blossoms. Perhaps it's related to the storm we had today? OK, so back to the point of the story: I was struck by the tree on the walk home, it's beauty, as well as the number of petals it had lost. So, as Bewitched is starting, and the scene opens on Isabel, (Nicole Kidman), walking up to the house she is going to buy, the wind is blowing flower petals all around her. At first, I thought they looked like the same petals, though on reflection, I think they were not. However, at the end of the movie, (I won't go into specifics and spoil anything), we hear her twitch her nose from behind closed doors and a tree grows in her front yard. Now that tree, I felt reasonably certain, was the same type of tree. Can anyone confirm or deny this? TIA.

Oh! And, hmmm...

UPDATE(s):

• 20060505 - It looks as if we have a winner on the flower identification. It appears to be a Magnolia. Thanks, Rob! Now I'm still waiting to see if anyone can confirm whether or not that was a Magnolia tree at the end...