Sweetbay Magnolia, Silver Bay, Swamp Bay 'Northern Belle'

Magnolia virginiana ‘northern belle’ and ‘moon glow’ stay completely evergreen all through the winter here in Salt Lake City, Uta...Read Moreh (zone 7b) even during our absolute toughest winters as a very young plant. But they need AMPLE water to be able to survive here in the desert southwest, and a little shade would help as well. I absolutely love this tree and it seems to do pretty good here!

I ordered ten of this cultivar bareroot and they made good growth in containers, I lost one in a container, it wasn't thrifty and then di...Read Moreed over winter. I sold some and also planted two in the yard. One went in bareroot and into a heavy clay where a diseased crab had been. It was hot dry and unforgiving like much of my yard in southern IL.The other was planted in the fall in a cold courtyard spot that receives less sun than much of the yard because of tall trees. It has thrived after one season in a pot and four years in that spot. It is about 18' tall and while kind of skinny I know it will fill out now that it gets more sun. I planted one for a neighbot who has much better soil on snobknob above us and it is thriving by his south facing deck. It is more treelike than many if limbed up

I might have to withdraw my endorsement of this plant. It has lovely flowers and a nice upright shape. All of my magnolias took a hit w...Read Moreith the long harsh winter in this area but none of them died. Northern Belle lost its leaves, sprouted new ones, and then by the end of May, they all wilted away. I suppose it is fortunate that some sports are coming up from the roots, so all is not lost. I do not know the cause of the sudden death of the main plant after a nice rally. I watered well in spring and did not fertilize with any chemicals, just added a nice compost mulch.

I have had brief experiences with Northern Belle in the past. I have noticed that its flowers are larger and sweeter smelling than the s...Read Morepecies. I tried growing two of these plants in 2003 but lost them to either chemical burn or verticillium wilt, not sure which but no amount of water could keep them from wilting or dropping leaves. That yard had significant cultural problems that laid many plants to dust but I no longer live there.

I am trialing this plant again, hoping for good results. My two favorites of the virginianas for zone 5 would be Moonglow for its multi-stem and cultural dependent quick growth. Northern belle would be the best single stem. I have not experienced the leaf retention of this plant yet obviously to compare to Moonglow. This first winter it has been protected by burlap, good idea for the more evergreen varieties until they get rooted well in zone 5.