We will see if your 'Little Gem' is thriving after another series of winters like 2013-2015. The real thing is probably the tenderest commercially popular Magnolia grandiflora cultivar, and is considered barely zone 7 hardy. If there are old, mature ones in your part of the Ohio Valley, by all means tell us about them and post pictures.

Oh--I should add that they don't seem to have too much trouble in ice storms, either. We're not prone to extremely heavy ones, but even in the couple of heavy ones we have had (and numberless lighter ones), the local magnolias have been just fine, including mine. Other trees...not so much. Even my Thujas have taken a bit of a beating due to being dense and evergreen, but the magnolia drops leaf and is open-branched and sturdy enough to deal with it. As far as planting, November is a tad late but you might be able to squeak it out. Water well if the locale is protected and mulch up to about 3"-4", and as close as 4" or so from the trunk of the young tree. If it's open to winds and unprotected, I might keep them indoors in pots over the winter in the brightest possible light. They'll probably lose their leaves anyway, which is fine. If they don't, that's fine too (but at those light levels, they almost certainly will). Once they do, keep them in some light for best performance and spring light-detection, but that's not critical. Move them outside in April when temperatures rebound--the pots are, of course, above ground and don't have the soil protection for the roots that they'd get if planted.

WOW...I never got notice of these replies. Wonder what I have turned off? Anyway, Gardengal 48 thank you for hope for this. I will try to address some of the questions. I am planning to use root pruning bags, at least 30 Gal in 3'x3'x3' cube fiberglass containers. May even have a dead air space for insulating against heat. They will be within a yard, not on street and within view of the main house and entrance drive. Facing east so hopefully spared the worst of the sun. There is another magnolia on the property, likely another little gem. Doing well on iffy irrigation system. This is a landscape I took over a couple years back and that is the weak link. However I am there 3 days a week and can definately spot water when needed. There are also straws in pots that we made thru the horrific heat of last summer. I have handles on the grow bags and now researching the best constructed ones out there so if need be I can lift out of the container. They are root pruning bags however, so perhaps that won't be necessary? Any advice on grow bags would also be appreciated. And yes the viburnum a goners...splits in bark to the ground...one or two sprouts but not significantly rebounding. Multi million dollar home...need to put as right as possible as quickly as possible without making stupid mistakes. Why I am here... Thank you so much for these responses. I hope you are still connected. I'll check back!

The nice thing about crape myrtles is that they have nice bark for all the time they are nekkid. But shade trees? I'm in the east bay and 50-year old crapes are still small trees here. You can grow just about anything in Alamo. And you'll be using this patio almost year 'round. So why not something evergreen?