Best southern magnolia cultivar for zone 6b near CLE OH?
Comments (9)
Jeb zone 5
28 days agolast modified: 27 days agoRelated Discussions
Northernmost Southern Magnolia?
Comments (22)I have a cultivar called 'Coco' here in Maine. If it survives it seems it will be one of the most notherly southern magnolias on the East coast anyway. I am directly west of Portland Me about half way to the new hampshire border for reference. I would have liked to get BBB or 24 below but the price was right on Coco and this magnolia is really something else. Keeping in mind it is the only one I have ever seen in real life there is little warrent to my statement that I think it is nicer looking than others of which I have only seen pictures. So I am happy with the purchase. I ammended the hell out of the soil as I am spoiling this tree before a harsh winter. I may put lights on it or just wrap it in burlap... Hope it does well!...See MoreSouthern Magnolia in Chicago???
Comments (57)Thanks. I have a "Brackens Brown" that was planted in Sp 2020 at about 30inches. It produced two spectacular flowers that Spring, one the next year and none in 2022. Some minor leaf drop last year so we will see what happens this winter. I live in Homewood about 13 miles from Lake Michigan. The tree is planted in slight shade facing south west. Mississippi native magnolias grow naturally in shaded woods. Yours has responded well to severe weather considering 2014 and 2019 were among the coldest on record for the Chicago region. . Big leaf and Sweet Bay do well in southeastern Cook County if properly sited but are rarely planted. I have not heard Magnolia grandiflora mentioned in the Chicago area especially about its hardiness. I imagine North Shore communities like Evanston -Lake Forest may have had success. I couild not find it in the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe. Does your tree produce flowers every year or just two flowers per year?...See MoreHardy Magnolia grandiflora "Poconos" available somewhere?
Comments (17)I had 'Edith Bogue' up to about 2' tall - until a wet snow load peeled it like a banana. Around here anyway the key to snow resistance of southern magnolias - it being USDA 8 this area has thousands of planted examples to observe, including some pretty old ones - seems to a large extent to be compact, bushy, or otherwise more apparently structurally reliable growth. It isn't known where the 'Victoria' name came from (or when it was first used), with certainty - sources rattling off origin statements for this plant do not have in-depth information. And since the name has been used for nursery stock over a wide area since at least the 1920s more than one type of 'Victoria' appears to have been described by commercial literature over the years - as is often the case with cultivars that become popular, experience commercial longevity. It wouldn't surprise me at all if more than one, distinctly different version was on the market in different places right now. Sweet bay is a whole other kettle of fish, much more delicate in aspect. There are kinds that produce big evergreen leaves in the north and others that produce small deciduous leaves in the south - native ones I saw in Orlando once consisted of a couple of short main branches sprinkled with a few leaves and a couple flowers, peeping out from beneath taller shrubs huddling together in a moist depression....See MoreCan Southern Magnolia grow here?
Comments (10)If the OP is still curious, I can post a pic of my Mag. Grandiflora, it is doing great still. I am guessing that the OP has already tried an evergreen Mag, so hasn't checked this post/subject. I will add that I tried a BBB Mag and it died on me, but the Mag. Grand. Is doing great. A friend of mine had the same tree seedling die on her because she didn't water it at all after I transplanted her 2 of them, and the wind in her yard dried it up. So with care to the seedling, water the first year or so when rain isn't there at least 2 times a week, and when you have bad winter winds, and don't help the tree out from blowing those trees out of the ground and drying them out, they will die. These seedlings were about 2 ft tall, with their evergreen large leaves in high wind, the trees literally blew out of the ground, their large leaves acting like a sail, blew em right out of the ground. I stressed the watering, but wasn't aware of the wind blowing em out of their planting hole. Mine hadn't had to face all that wind, and I watered mine often. In her defense my friend didn't know anything about trees, and has clay soil....See More
arbordave (SE MI)
28 days agoBased on the information I've seen (from other sources as well as a number of discussions on Houzz) the general consensus seems to be that Brackens Brown Beauty and Edith Bogue are the hardiest varieties available, with Victoria also quite cold hardy but perhaps slightly less than BBB and EB. There is also a new introduction called 'BooneArb' that per the patent claims to be hardier than BBB and EB, but I don't think it is commercially available (or widely tested) yet.
Photo below of a young Victoria at the Chicago Botanic Garden (Dec 2023)
41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
27 days ago
bengz6westmd
26 days agolast modified: 26 days agoStandard southern mag at brother's house some yrs ago (z6 west MD). Certainly went thru Jan 1977 cold wave with -15 F temps and Jan 1994 w/even colder temps. Brother did say that it lost alot of leaves from those temps, but recovered.
Jeb zone 5
26 days ago41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
26 days agolast modified: 26 days agoDepends on the cultivar of M. grandiflora. I am on the East coast, Mid Atlantic, we specialize in heavy, wet heart attack snow. Edith Bogue, Victoria, even the Majestic Beauty, all will behave by having their branches bend toward the ground in response to HEAVY snow loads. I have seen this repeatedly throughout the yeas, talking about 1-2 plus FEET of snow. Then, once the sun comes out and temps rise to near freezing, they start bending right back up again. It really is amazing. YES, they may lose an occasional branch, but these cultivars are so vigorous that they soon fill in again. Then, there are cultivars of the same species, curiously the more vertical growers in my experience, that just SNAP, the sprawling, luxuriant, ones with a lot of horizontal growth did not show damage. However, we seldom have ice storms, I am guessing those are worse on trees. Years ago, we had a freak Halloween snow of 4-5 inches while northern trees (including deciduous magnolias) were still in full leaf, we saw trees SLIP in half but no issue for the Southern Magnolias. I guess the branches and wood are rather soft and pliant and bend rather than snap. Another consideration for some growers (say in more maritime/cool summer climates) is that they do not get enough summer heat for the wood to ripen, thus weaker for supporting snow loads. But Jeb, if you are a zone 5, the intensity and duration of cold WILL be a factor more than the snow. M.g. often considered to be a strong "indicator species" of a solid Zone 7 climate (though they do sneak by in somewhat colder zone, like 6b. They are interesting species, fairly shallow-rooted and yet surprisingly, both wind and drought tolerant. Also, never had issues with pests. Even deer repellent, save for the fact that deer love to rut the trunks if they can get near them, so don't "limb up", the other branches will protect the trunk.
P.S., These are Edith Bogue, after branches have already begun to rise. Can almost compare it the amazing transformation in the local bamboo forest, after a heavy snow, all the culms bend toward the ground and in a day or two, are standing vertical again.bengz6westmd
25 days agolast modified: 25 days ago41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)
25 days ago
41 North (Zone 7a/b, NE, coastal)