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Have a nice Southern Magnolia in my yard, Port Washington, NY, North shore of Long Island. You find them here and there on Long Island. Not super common but most towns have a few here and there if you look closely.
Further to the west and North, I have seen one in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, still doing well. The ones that I saw on the westside of Buffalo, NY and in Hamburg, NY did not survive last year's harsh winter but did live in those locales for over a decade. I think the extra hardy varieties of Southern Magnolia survive down to about -5 to -10F.
Have a nice Southern Magnolia in my yard, Port Washington, NY, North shore of Long Island. You find them here and there on Long Island. Not super common but most towns have a few here and there if you look closely.
Further to the west and North, I have seen one in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, still doing well. The ones that I saw on the westside of Buffalo, NY and in Hamburg, NY did not survive last year's harsh winter but did live in those locales for over a decade. I think the extra hardy varieties of Southern Magnolia survive down to about -5 to -10F.
I think their leaves are slippery enough that snow doesn't stick to them and weigh down the branches. Otherwise, they would break apart in heavy snows.
Have a nice Southern Magnolia in my yard, Port Washington, NY, North shore of Long Island. You find them here and there on Long Island. Not super common but most towns have a few here and there if you look closely.
Further to the west and North, I have seen one in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, still doing well. The ones that I saw on the westside of Buffalo, NY and in Hamburg, NY did not survive last year's harsh winter but did live in those locales for over a decade. I think the extra hardy varieties of Southern Magnolia survive down to about -5 to -10F.
Many of the cold hardy southern magnolias in the city of indianapolis survived winter time lows of about -15 degrees but if you meant that they tolerate as low as 10 below without any damage I believe you are correct.
I would think that Kansas City would have a more continental climate than Indy, being further west into the centre of the country. I know that Chicago is more continental than here in the Windsor and Detroit area, and as a result, we are zone 6b and can grow plants that are more common to locations more south of here. I just really hope the magnolias here make it through this winter ok, as they have only been recently planted in the last 15 years or so. I would love to see them more widely planted throughout the city as they are so exotic looking with their evergreen shiny leaves!
There is a house in Wilmette (northern suburbs of Chicago, near the Lake Michigan), whose front yard is filled with a lot of evergreen rhododendrons, and also 3 southern magnolias. Now, those magnolias don't look too impressive (their foliage isn't dense), but they're quite tall. I don't know which cultivar they are, although I suspect they're Edith Bouge. They lost, I think, all of their leaves the previous winter, but regrew them.
As far as Chicago having a "more continental climate" than Detroit/Windsor area, that's not true. Both areas have nearly EXCATLY the same winters, in terms of temperatures, wind speed, etc. So I don't know how you can say Chicago is colder than your area
I haven't checked the one larger Magnolia I know of here in Denver to see if it did ok after the freak early November Actic outbreak we had. I was out of town, but heard it got down to something like 10 below. But it was a rather quick Arctic air incident, compared to those last winter that were unusually long and caused damage.
There is a house in Wilmette (northern suburbs of Chicago, near the Lake Michigan), whose front yard is filled with a lot of evergreen rhododendrons, and also 3 southern magnolias. Now, those magnolias don't look too impressive (their foliage isn't dense), but they're quite tall. I don't know which cultivar they are, although I suspect they're Edith Bouge. They lost, I think, all of their leaves the previous winter, but regrew them.
As far as Chicago having a "more continental climate" than Detroit/Windsor area, that's not true. Both areas have nearly EXCATLY the same winters, in terms of temperatures, wind speed, etc. So I don't know how you can say Chicago is colder than your area
Not necessarily colder, but being further inland, you are more prone to arctic outbreaks and more severe heatwaves. Windsor is a 6b hardiness zone, and I think Chicago is now a 6a zone, being bumped up from a 5b. Not a big difference, buy still there. Overall, both regions are pretty similar weather wise, we just get a slight moderating effect from the lakes when the cold fronts come from the north west.
Not necessarily colder, but being further inland, you are more prone to arctic outbreaks and more severe heatwaves. Windsor is a 6b hardiness zone, and I think Chicago is now a 6a zone, being bumped up from a 5b. Not a big difference, buy still there. Overall, both regions are pretty similar weather wise, we just get a slight moderating effect from the lakes when the cold fronts come from the north west.
I agree that chicago is more prone to extreme heat and cold and you are correct about chicago being bumped up into a relatively balmier zone 6a in terms of growing zones the difference is actually quite insignificant but still a slight shift nevertheless, indianapolis also got up one half zone to a 6a, but both cities can still easily see a zone colder than what the updated plant zones designate each city as a zone 6a, and both chicago and indianapolis are near the northernmost edge of zone 6, so that means that zone 6 plants are very marginal for those cities unless they are sited with winter protection in the event that an abnormally cold winter occurs as happened this past winter that such plants will have a fighting chance of surviving.
Not necessarily colder, but being further inland, you are more prone to arctic outbreaks and more severe heatwaves. Windsor is a 6b hardiness zone, and I think Chicago is now a 6a zone, being bumped up from a 5b. Not a big difference, buy still there. Overall, both regions are pretty similar weather wise, we just get a slight moderating effect from the lakes when the cold fronts come from the north west.
I understand what you're saying, but I'm not sure if I agree, at least entirely. Let me explain. The moderating effect from the lakes is not as big as you probably think, at least for Windsor. Look, when the arctic air hits, it comes from the northwest, or the west (usually), then it crosses Lake Michigan; and in the process, it is "warmed up", so to speak. So, for example, last January, "polar vortex" brought Chicago -15F low (Midway airport). The same airmass traveled across Lake Michigan, and Grand Rapids, MI registered -1F low. Quite a difference, I agree. But the arctic air continued to go east, and as it went over the snow-covered Michigan, it cooled down again, so Windsor registered -13F. A whopping 1F warmer than Chicago. Similar thing happened on Jan 16, 2009, when Chicago registered -17F, Grand Rapids -8F, and Windsor -11F. OK, few degrees warmer than Chicago, but you see my point. (Actually downtown Chicago and the lakeshore areas in the city had -12F low that night). You need to know that Lake Michigan also influences Chicago climate to some degree; it moderates the cold air too. A striking example of that, as I remember, was in Jan 2010, when Rochelle,IL (north-central IL, I would say some 80 miles west of Chicago) had a low of -18F, and on the same night Chicago had +9F, and downtown Chicago +16F! That's why Chicago avg temps are a couple degrees higher in winter than Rockford,IL, for example. Of course, there's the urban heat island effect, too.
^^
I agree that for the most part both cities are very similar climate wise, but Windsor being a 6b zone is slightly milder than Chicago's zone 6a, pretty negligible though. The main reason, I think, is that Chicago is that much further west, closer to the middle of the continent.
I'm hoping that this current cold wave doesn't get too severe, because the local Southern Mags took such a beating last winter. Hopefully all will be well, and there will be no leaf damage!
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. Similar thing happened on Jan 16, 2009, when Chicago registered -17F, Grand Rapids -8F, and Windsor -11F. OK, few degrees warmer than Chicago, but you see my point. (Actually downtown Chicago and the lakeshore areas in the city had -12F low that night). You need to know that Lake Michigan also influences Chicago climate to some degree; it moderates the cold air too. A striking example of that, as I remember, was in Jan 2010, when Rochelle,IL (north-central IL, I would say some 80 miles west of Chicago) had a low of -18F, and on the same night Chicago had +9F, and downtown Chicago +16F!
That's why Chicago avg temps are a couple degrees higher in winter than Rockford,IL, for example. Of course, there's the urban heat island effect, too.
