I've never had a problem with this tree's winter hardiness. I just wish they were more readily available around here.

No problem with cold hardiness here either, and each year there are more of them. There are dozens and dozens of cultivars though. In zone 6b/7a plus, cold is NOT the biggest factor--it is SNOW/ICE load. Here, there are BIG differences among the cultivars! Here, I have best success with these (in no particular order)...

Victoria (out of the Pacific NW)
Edith Bogue (from Fl. via NJ)
Bracken's Brown
Majestic Beauty (don't have a problem w. this one despite the broad, tropical leaves)
Little Gems

Some that I will be editing out of the property...

Green Giant (very, VERY fast grower but prone to damage)

Teddy Bear (beautiful rusty brown underside, but very prone to snow and ice damage)

Looks great!

Don't worry about off topic stuff-the forums have been so boring lately
I would be happy to look at a nice pair of shoes :o ( ;

I have a BBB and it seems to be taking our cold with out problems. If it will stop raining/snowing I'll get out there and take a pic of it. bout the same size as your island breeze..our local greenhouse is loaded down with them but whoo the price is a high one.

Nice looking Southern mag! And I agree, dont worry about being too off topic, I'm just happy to see any posts. Winter is a slow time of the year for postings!
I've seen some really nice little gem southern mags by me, but Bracken's brown beauty is one of the most common ones.
-Alex

I really don't care for most of the cultivars because the leaves seem so small, but maybe thats better for more northern areas. The wild ones that grow in the woods around here have really large leaves.

Thanks everybody. It's about 9 feet tall, probably 6-7 feet wide. I found it at a nursery close to my house a few years back, but that's the only time I ever found one up here. I wish I could find more, I'd definitely plant more if I found them now that I know they do well around here.

Njoasis, I'd love to find a Majestic Beauty if you say they have large, tropical leaves.

I'll be keeping an eye out for more of these this coming spring.

The last few years have been really tough on the East Coast--everything from repeated, record snows three years ago, to record heat, to Spring drought to, to record rainfall, to two hurricanes. Really testing the limits.
Teddy Bears and Green Giants were clobbered. On the other hand, locally available Victorias, Little Gems, and Edith Bogues were untouched. Again, in zone 7, heavy snow loads are an issue with some f the varieties. Majestic Beauty does have the broad leaves, but they seem to shed off the snow. The Teddy Bear has much smaller leaves but they are more vertical and capture and hold on to the snow until large branches snap. Victoria is also a gorgeous, hardy variety--and leaf buds are reddish --like with Ficus elastica. Edith Bogues are also very robust--seem a darker green to me, with more blue tones. No Winter burn with any of these.

I would say if you don't see any large old southern magnolias in your area they aren't meant to make it there over the long haul.

Islandbreeze, drive south my friend. Every nursery and garden center in Cincinnati stocks at least a few varieties, many of good size. They are everywhere here. The city uses them as street trees and in all the parks. They seed and sprout all over town too. You can probably pick up a few nice holly specimens too and dig out a few albizia julibrissins from the ground since they self seed everywhere here.

Cliff- are they at the big box stores too? And thanks for the tip, I'll definitely be doing that this summer. Holly is everywhere up here too, so that isn't an issue to obtain.

I wonder if central Ohio has them too? I'm only about 40 minutes from the Ohio border, so it's not too far out of my way.

The big box stores probably do but i'm not certain since i rarely buy trees and shrubs from those stores.

I can't answer the question about Southern Magnolias in central Ohio, but they probably carry Edith Bogue at a minimum.

Here's a few pics of my unknown grandiflora. Can anybody give me an Id? Notice how Brown this one is compared to Edith bogue posted above. Thanks

Closeup

Underside of leaves is green

Island, I also have this cultivar. I may be chopping it down this year! I have about a half dozen cultivars of grandiflora--this one is quite different from any of the others.

It grows maybe twice as fast if not more than the others
It branches densely, even to ground level
Green on the underside (as you noted)
Lighter green leaves
Leaf shape is almost avocado-like

Mine does not burn as harshly has yours, but it burns more than the others
Biggest problem are its poor tolerance for any snow or ice, while the others look fine. My poor guy suffered collateral damage from other downed trees in the hurricane and just took another hit. It even got attacked by deer this past November. I have always identified it as 'Green Giant'. Sure it would try to recoup but hate seeing the damage.

You're right, it definitely looks like a 'Green Giant'. Thanks for the ID. This is more like a 7b magnolia, and partially defoliates every winter except last. Several years ago, we got down to -12 (coldest temp in years, and haven't seen anything close since), and it was killed right down to the snow line. It's making a slow come-back as it was planted in part shade. Last spring it got moved to it's current location in full sun, so hopefully I'll get it to bloom.

Just a suggestion, maybe keep yours trimmed smaller so the branches can handle more of a snow load. Not sure how big yours is...

From what I have seen, it would have issues in 7b or even 8 as long as there were even ocassional snow or ice load episodes. That's a problem for me.

This is beautiful, hardy cultivar--Victoria.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I checked mine yesterday seems to have some holes and things in the leaves I am guessing from the cold and ice awhile back. other than that it looks alright. this is its first winter in the ground so hopefully it really puts on some growth in spring.