Do all the leaf reverses look like that? Or is that just an isolated occurrence?

Sue, show more pictures, that almost looks more like 'Little Gem 'rather than BBB. 'Little Gem 'does have more of a grey indumentem if I remember correctly.

Probably some kind of foliage mildew.

Agree with identification of 'Little Gem'. So rather than a more hardy kind you got sent what may be the most tender cultivar (Callaway, The World of Magnolias, Timber Press, Portland).

Both mildew and cold damage have certainly been noticeable with 'Little Gem' in my area. (With there being a quite large number of plantings of it to observe outcomes from here). After it grows beyond the shrub habit and becomes taller and more narrow it may also be split in half by snow accumulation.

Agree it looks like mildew. Doubt that it's a problem.

Just got this ..... in the mail.

==>>>

from a professional grower ????

if so ... i would contact them and discuss such with them ..

i would also presume.. consistent with good hort practices.. and state inspections ... that they sent 'clean' stock ... else they might have big business problems ... perhaps they took care of the problem ... but the leaves havent recovered from such ... in other words.. they will look like that until shed ...

if the seller was some home business web seller ... well .. who knows what you got ... so you might have to treat or clean it up yourself ...

ken

The particular mildew on 'Little Gem' around here causes premature defoliation and gauntness of affected specimens.

Honestly even more than some moldy looking undersides on almost all leaves-I was worried that I was sent Little Gem hardy to zone 7 and I'm in Zone 6. I just kept trying to convince myself and googled them to compare them without much luck. I bought it from Perfect Plants Nursery located in North Florida on their ebay page. Packed well, fast delivery, nice size....just that moldy look - But just now emailed them since hearing back from all of you that replied to my post. Thanks all of you.

More photos of the little Magnolia in my garden.

I'd be happy to tackle some mold, but just can't grow a Little Gem that is not hardy in Pittsburgh. I'm waiting to hear back from them, I just contacted them today March 24.

Definitely looks like 'Little Gem'. I'm in USDA 8 and it periodically gets hit by cold even here. In fact the last time I saw many of them damaged was within the last few years or so. (Hit as in burning and collapse of a percentage of exterior shoots, somewhat in the manner of fire blight of rose family plants. Or like when conifers - another ancient plant group - get singed by low temperatures).

And we just had the snowiest Feb. on record (20 in.). So a lot of southern magnolias in general in the area have sections of bent or snapped branches. Which means I should probably expect to encounter 'Little Gem' that were broken completely in half (entire top half snaps off, leaving a flat top ~50% as tall as before). As happened a previous time there was a memorable snow episode in my area.

This befalls examples of 'Little Gem' that have produced the narrow habit (notice how skinny yours is already) that is the true form of the cultivar. The many propagules that grow more broad and bushy for extended periods are probably doing so due to something like having been started from cuttings taken from side branches.

Last time a couple of us were in the Los Angeles area we saw an in-ground 'Little Gem' that was about 41 ft tall. And very much narrower than high. Consistent with this (the way i remember it) when the original seedling was shown and described in the magnolia society journal it was quite narrow, almost columnar in the photo.

Snow damage can be present with any evergreen magnolia, not just 'Little Gem'. The established Magnolia grandiflora in my inherited garden - not sure of cultivar; could be either BBB or 'Edith Bogue' - lost two large branches in our recent snowfall. And I received nowhere near the 20" Embothrium reports.

I never got as much as 12 inches here.......maybe as much as 8-10. And that IS for the entire month. Snow accumulations are not uniform throughout the area.

In top photo, is the bud a leaf bud? or is it a flower bud? (pardon ignorance)

Flower

Thanks to all of the knowledge and kind input here on this garden forum, to my questions (and I had also suspected that it looked like Little Gem, but didn't even mention it in my question) I have contacted the company I bought it from and they had a very responsible response and I'm feeling confident they will do the right thing. They also agree with all of you that it appears to be Little Gem also, which cannot survive in Pittsburgh, zone 6b.

Thanks so much for everyone's input!

New message from: perfplantsnursery (231)

Hello Sue,

First off thank you for your order. I am the owner here at Perfect Plants nursery and it does appear at first glance that the tree you received was a little gem. I would however like to look into this further and check our pull records from the nursery when your tree shipped. I will be able to get to the bottom of this and if our employees made a mistake, we will happily ship you a new tree!

I will be in touch tomorrow about your tree.

Thanks,

Alex



Perfect Plants Team
phone: 850-997-3008
site: https://myperfectplants.com

This is a photo of a Magnolia I have not ID's that I grew from a twig taken from a mature tree growing in Pittsburgh, that I dipped into root growth hormone and put in a terrarium until it rooted- and it's doing great in Zone 6b in Pittsburgh. Do any of you know what variety it is? It's leaves are huge, some leaves have a little brown on the back, but not much and not all of them, and no grey at all. It grew super fast, is taller than 5 feet now and about 4 years old from a 6 inch twig.

Among familiar, hardier named selections it resembles 'Edith Bogue'. Could also be an unnamed seedling, of course.

Maybe the cat knows.

That does look like 'Edith Bogue ' for it has little indumentem if any. At my old house, I had this tree and is quite hardy (zone 6a). Also for what it's worth, I planted a BBB and 'Little Gem ' the same year with enteresting results. Both were about 2.5ft plants. I put little gem about 10 ft off the se corner of the house and BBB in a more exposed location. Clumps of bamboo were on the north side of both. The first three winters showed typical damage for young trees in this area. The following years, 'Little Gem 'actually did better than BBB. Granted, it did have a better microclimate. Maybe I can find pictures, the new owners took both trees out.

Sue, that tree does look like my 'Edith Bogues'. 'Little Gems' ARE prone to issues in colder areas but they also recuperate fast..., and this will keep them in check with respect to size. Have never tried BBB. I can also highly recommend 'Victoria' in colder zones. 'Majestic Beauty' is not supposed to be one for more northern zones, but mine has been curiously immune to snow issues and I LOVE the flowers. This year, we had one very heavy, wet snow and one of my 'Victorias' took a hit. I used to get upset but now accept it for what is is. Maybe it was was nature's way of taking out a problem trunk (M. grandiflora's seem multi-trunked), and light in the tree canopy is now greater due to the unintentional pruning. I know a lot of people say M. grandifloras are slow growing, but that has not been my experience in an Eastern Zone 7 climate with tropical summers and HEAVY rain in growing season and throughout the year. My own 'Edith Bogues' went from three feet tall to three house stories in about ten years! I hope you have the SPACE!!

Blue Bayou and HU-525254581 and Embothrium, Wow, Thanks for all of your personal experience on the magnolias and helping me ID the Magnolia I grew from a twig! Getting personal gardening experience from all of you is great info and I learned a lot from all of you. And the cat knows everything, but he's not talk'n!

Also the people at https://myperfectplants.com have been totally professional, and agree with all of you that the mail order magnolia did appear to be Little Gem and they are sending me a replacement tree. I was truly impressed with how nice they have been and how quickly they responded. I am a very satisfied customer and would recommend them highly to anyone wanting to buy from them.

I'm going to give the poor Little Gem the best chance at life in zone 6b in Pittsburgh that I can and will be looking for a little microclimate in my yard, like HU-525254581 did.

And blue bayou I saw how big the parent tree of my rooted twig was and I did give it room to grow! Glad to know I will have a big tree in ten years, I'm not so young anymore, and it has indeed been a fast grower!

'Edith Bogue' has an interesting little history. Genetically, it is a Florida native but when it got to NJ, it was observed to have superior cold hardiness and resistance to snow loads, thus its popularity in the Northeast. 'Victoria' was a cultivar that was popular in the Pacific Northwest (where heavy, wet snows are also not that unusual). Get used to the Spring leaf drop; when older leaves drop off in great abundance (it's completely normal, but a bit of a Spring chore!) Good luck with your tree

An 'Edith Bogue' I planted on Camano Island was stripped off all side branches by snow (while still small) and got removed. True to type* 'Victoria' should have a comparatively bushy and resilient habit resembling what gets sold as 'St Mary' (in later decades) in this respect. Around here both of these latter two tend to have significantly less breakage than others.

*Origin of cultivar is not known with certainty, what I am calling "true to type" is a clone with distinctively pink or reddish sheathes over the new leaves, in the manner of Ficus elastica

I didnt realize there was a much more recent thread on these magnolias. My Lowes has Brown Beauty and Im contemplating finding a place for it. Im in the Hudson Valley now zone 7a, with heavy deer pressure in the unfenced area of property. Hopeless?

Deer do not eat Magnolias but will rut them in the Fall, they LOVE the soft wood. If you plant them, they will grow dense and lush. Leave the lowest branches so deer will not rut the trunks. This is Victoria in North Jersey (now Zone 7b), and I have HERDS of deer all year long!

I don't have Bracken's Brown, but they are among the best in the North.

These are under a Majestic Beauty .cultivar

I just experienced what you called "rutting" on the bark just about 4 days ago! You are right they don't eat the leaves, I'm so relieved about that.

Even though my post and other garden posts on Houzz may be older they still contain pertinant & usefull shared information that never grows old...so I was happy to see more comments.

If it’s just rubbing then i think wrapping the bark should be sufficient protection, don’t you?

> "Even though my post and other garden posts on Houzz may be older they still contain pertinant & usefull shared information" ___ Don'cha just love it when the rigid spiners tell the writer of a new comment that the thread is old. Sometimes I reply : "Well, then tell the admins to delete the databases."

Four 9B near 9A yup, I don't care if a thread is old because the garden information is timeless!

kitasei i had not thought of wrapping, i must not be thinking, but I did spray Liquid Fence on the trunks after the deer ripped it up.