Bought a 1 gallon M.M. last weekend at a local botanical garden sale, here in the Houston area of Texas. Biggest question I now have is whether or not it's really going to survive here, and under what circumstances that might best be accomplished... Thanks all!
If it doesn't work out maybe try ssp. ashei from Florida, native to lowlands and normally less-large growing, flowering when quite small. Both will require woodland conditions, if your soil is terrible and you have no spot that is out of the wind and hottest sun those could be problems. The large papery leaves of these cannot take much wind at all before they tear and even in dull Seattle area sun burn may develop some seasons (we have very dry conditions in July here).
I have mine growing in an elevation around 5500 feet. I planted a large five gallon and put it in an acid soil, wind and sun sheltered by native Pines and Incense Cedar and still for about 10 years I saw the leaves get tattered by wind during the warm Summers. It takes this plant a while to adapt but when it does the leaves do not get as badly disfigured by wind as the years go by. I've had the same issues with tripetala as well. Both of these Maples require an acid soil as saline to alkaline soils will cause even more leaf issues with salt burn which causes the leaves to become much more susceptible to direct hot sun and warm to hot winds, even when the tree has some protection. I've seen people even in the foothill areas near me keep these plants in a greenhouse until they were 10-12' tall and then when placed outside they would get chewed up by the elements. Another thing is both of these Maples like having some marine air in the mornings and late afternoon. Thus in areas of higher humidity they are less prone to have their leaves torn as the moisture does serve as a protection for the leaves. We found good results with overhead sprinkler watering for these when left in containers grown under shade cloth. The concern is when we place the trees outside into the elements and then found they are best planted under a canopy of larger and fuller trees which can act as direct sun protection while we wait for the trees to adapt to our setting but more importantly serve as our wind protection as it is the wind that causes the more trouble than direct sun does. The whole issue is that when the leaves are expanding they are the most vulnerable to wind. If those leaves get hurt by the wind the trees do not readily set out new growth to replace the leaves that were torn up. I am lucky to see two flushes of new growth where I have my trees, so that any leaves that get tattered or torn are not replaced until the following year. Where we see the most new shoot development is on the top portions of the trees. Unless you have lots of undergrowth, do not prune the top back as you will regret doing that later when the tree shuts down on you. Leave these trees as is, they will generally develop a leader all on their own, until they are about 12-15 years of age in the ground. I agree that Ashe's Magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla var. ashei) [and you may have it now and not know it] is a better plant to grow in Houston. The leaves are less prone to wind damage when young and can tolerate saline soils and warmer temperatures better than macrophylla and tripetala when grown here on the valley floor. Jim
Thanks much for that input guys. Given the seed source of the tree I bought (Mercer Arboretum), I'm pretty sure it's the straight MM, and not Ashei. They do have theirs growing in some pretty significant shade, from my perspective. They grow magnolias everywhere around here, but normally just your Home Depot kind of Southern Belle or what have you. I did notice, and was highly surprised by the texture of these leaves. I'm used to magnolias being fairly thick and leathery, but these are, as you said, rather papery. Well, mine are just downright floppy rather than papery, but they usual 75 - 100% humidity I'm sure helps with that. ;-) I'm a foliage fellow myself, so, while the masssive flowers may eventually impress me, I understand I'm not likely to see them before my daughter graduates in 2020... Still, I'm stunned at the (currently still growing) 14" long leaves I have on a tree just over 24" from the soil up!
