Magnolia

Bought this tree about 6 years ago as a 12" seedling from CamForest. Evergreen and with very interesting, long tapered foliage. Plant hab...Read Moreit is dense and pyramidal.

It is planted in full sun in a fully exposed area. The tree is now about 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide. The past couple of years it has put on about 18"-24" of growth per year. Has not set any flower buds yet.

First 3 years in the ground I provided some wind protection with burlap and dry leaves. Since then it has had no winter protection and remains mostly evergreen all winter. Come April, most of the previous year's foliage falls off just as the new growth pushes out. It has an awkward period for about 2 weeks but then it is dense with new bright green foliage again. As the summer heats up, the newest growth has a reddish bronze cast.

I do provide supplemental water during dry periods in the summer.

In the Fall of 2015 I planted three M. Yuyuanensis seedlings bought from Camellia Forest nursery in Chapel Hill, NC. The seedlings were p...Read Morelanted at my home in Ohio.

Now, in the Spring of 2016, I can proudly say that one has survived!

Holding its leaves into February, it was planted in an area with open exposure @ an elevation of 1,180ASL. The soil is degraded mulch several years old. On numerous occasions this last Winter we dipped below zeroF. Locals generally consider it ranking as 2nd or 3rd place for the worst Winter in recent memory.

Considering that all three seedlings were 18" high saplings planted in the Fall I'm not too surprised I lost two out of the three trees. Perhaps enough mulch was not placed at the base of the two that died & the roots received too much cold......I noticed they seemed to die early in the Spring from the bottom-up, sadly a slow death.

But as for that 3rd seedling, having lost its leaves in February, it's now late May & it's putting out robust growth. Dark red/purple young growth. Even terminal leaf buds survived, which with any plant tends to be the part of the branch at greater risk of dying. I am certain it is a true Yuyuanensis seedling as its leaves look like its siblings' leaves, long, narrow, & a sharp apex.

So perhaps this species is more hardy than indicated, if given the initial care required.

Growing vigorously in South Carolina's NW Piedmont area where the plant has shown no ill effects to extended 7° and 9° F nights.

In garden cultivation, it is a handsome, densely foliaged, fat oval evergreen. White blooms with deep plum-purple stamens occur in spring...Read More past any danger from late frosts. Seeds are viable but seedlings can take 8 to 14 years to reach blooming maturity. Cutting, graft, budding propagation is possible but not with high success rates. Some plants in zone 7 may have winter tip burn but recover quickly in spring. However there are reports of plants growing in zone 7A with no damage.
It has been hybridized with several other species in subgenus magnolia and with insignis.
In all, it is an excellent "new" oriental magnolia evergreen for warmer areas.