The USDA hardiness zones just address average low temperatures, not overall climate conditions - to find out if your area is suitable for this type of magnolia look at the information from Sunset. Sounds like your tree got dried out, or it came out of the shade and then burned due to a change in exposure. Otherwise it might have been burned by dry winds. Big box plant departments in my area are terrible about keeping stock trapped there watered, if you are seeing similar damage at the outlet to what you have it again may indicate your specimen got away from you one day. Leaving it in the pot is not the best way to fight with heat and drought, plants in pots are much more vulnerable to such conditions than are ones planted in the ground. Definitely be sure the sun does not beat on the pot and cook the roots. If you are not going to grow the tree in the ground then moving it up into a larger container should be undertaken before the summer drags on much longer. This post was edited by bboy on Fri, Jul 18, 14 at 14:44

transplant shock can do weird things... dead stuff is ALWAYS removed... but i would probably wait until spring.. to see if any of that rebuds ... read that: when i am sure its dead .... lol... or if you are the retentive type.. and it will drive you insane for the rest of the season.. just do it now.. whose in charge of this thing anyway ... lol .. ken

"tulip tree" is a common name.......therefore, it is nothing official and can be applied to anything one cares to :-) It is most often applied to Lirodendron tulipifera but many also call magnolias 'tulip trees'. Magnolia liliiflora is commonly referred to as 'tulip magnolia' due to the shape of the flowers but common usage has expanded that appellation. The tree in the last photo IS a magnolia but difficult to determine exactly what kind. As to the OP's question, a magnolia putting out flowers in the middle of winter in a zone 6 climate regardless of temperatures would be highly unusual. Even in very mild winter climates, this is uncommon. And without any photo, it's impossible to know what sort of tree they may be referring to. Just an aside, I responded to the second post earlier......but then the second post disappeared!! So I deleted my previous comment (essentially what I wrote above) as there was no context for it. Weird!!

i think you ought to go buy more plants.. and screw around with those.. and leave this poor thing alone.. lol... a shrub with large potential can take 2 to 4 years to settle in .. and get growing to specs.. we call that getting established ....depending on how well you planted it .. so your plant is not fully established ... and your only thing is.. im going to start cutting off the food making machines [leaves].. because i know better that it.. how it should grow .. no.. no..no.. leave it alone.. and as stated above.. go buy more plants and i suspect in 5 years.. you will love this plant as it is.. shrubs should be some of the most carefree plants i in the garden.. presuming you sited them properly from the gitgo ... [meaning you didnt plant then 2 feet from the foundation...lol] now.... all that said... after it does get fully established .. and you want to start pruning it for aesthetics.. then knock yourself out ... its your plant.. in your garden.. and i approve you doing whatever you want to your plants ... ken