Here's the thing Keith. Most of the Grandiflora cultivars I have seem to deal with even the heavy wet snow loads--even those with characteristically broad leaves (aligned horizontally or even descending). I only had issues with one cultivar of moderate leaf size whose leaves where oriented much more vertically. I think it's the Teddy bear variety (has a rich cinnamon colored bottom). The snow just accumulated and was caught up in pockets that did not permit it to shed the weight of the snow so that eventually the branches would snap off. I had no problems with any of the following cultivars: Majestic Beauty, Edith Bogue, Little Gem, Green Giant or Victoria. It's an interesting question for further research. Even though these trees need not be adapted for heavy snow loads, I would think that they do have the issue with potential damage from freezing rain and ice storms (which are actually relatively rare here compared to heavy WET snow concerns). Thanks for the thoughtful response. PS. Latest weather woes have nothing to do with snow or ice, currently experiencing torrential rains and gale force winds.

My old Edith Bogues are fine. I had one new one that had a large very heavy central branch break. I put it in a container indoors and it looked great for a long time. (central nj 6-7)

You will not likely see the damage for a week or two. Then it starts to show. Follow up with us to let us know if they made it. Acuba are another plant that the deer love! Islandbreeze, I wonder if you have a different predator eating your sawpalms and yuccas? They definitely leave mine alone. miketropic, as far as I know it's just Fatsia japonica. I've attached a pic. It's in "bloom" right now. It stands about 7 feet high. You can see how sparse it is at the bottom where the deer have dined.

I was wondering if anyone had experience with cultivars of Magnolia grandiflora and resistance to snow load damage. Okay, so after a late start, we just had our snowiest month ever (February). There was no freezing rain this winter but many of the snows were of a heavy, wet variety. I have read that cultivars of grandiflora that have broad, big leaves that lay horizontal are more prone to damage than those with leaves that are more vertically oriented. It sounds good in theory but I had just the opposite results. The cultivars with big, broad, horizontal leaves were fine while a variety with moderate sized leaves that are vertically oriented (believe it's a Teddy Bear) suffered most. The vertical leaves of the Teddy Bear seemed to accumulate much more snow and eventually snapped its branches. Here's what I found comparing the cultivars: Little Gem--No Damage Majestic Beauty--No Damage Edith Bogue--No Damage Victoria--No Damage Green Giant--Some damage Teddy Bear--moderate damage What has your experience been? I like all varieties but am disappointed that the Teddy Bears seem to suffer so from heavy wet snow. Thanks in advance.