by your name.. shall we presume you are in indy???

ken

ps: without the pic.. i may have thought you were marci in ndy ...lol...

Oh sorry, not sure why my zone disappeared. Yes, I am in Indianapolis z5b, and yes my name is Marc...:-)

Black Tulip and Genie open up in the usual way. With the first in particular looking short and bulbous rather than tall and slender, hence "Tulip". And recently introduced southern hemisphere origin selections like Black Tulip really being hardy to USDA 5 I have to wonder about. (In addition note that the lowest hardiness zone given for a plant may often be the borderline for it, the level at which it begins to have problems). Plus with Yulania it isn't just a matter of what cold the dormant tree can survive, there is also the vulnerability of the early flowers to frosts, sunshine and wind to consider. Even here in my part of USDA 8 these occurrences exert consistent pressure, with browning or tearing being rather often seen - definitely if winds are now going to blow through a gap where the hemlock was at your place I would not stick a magnolia there. Rather put it someplace where there is more shelter - with Yulania the optimum is a solid, contrasting backdrop of conifers that also cuts the wind and prevents frost touched flowers from being struck by the sun early in the day. Pink or purple kinds look great against blue conifers.

These (below) on the other hand were developed specifically for cold climate use. 'Susan' produces a lingering impression of being a narrowly vertical flower with good rich coloration inside and out:

https://usna.usda.gov/assets/images/as_pdf_image/Magnolias.pdf

I am going to suggest that you look for magnolias that bloom relatively late to help avoid frost damage. How much you need to worry about wind will depend on how much wind your area gets. I have Magnolia Leonard Messel in a very exposed spot (slightly elevated and at the edge of a farm field in a river valley that channels wind) but my part of New England has far less wind than many areas of open prairie IME. LM isn’t in your preferred color range, but has only rarely been hit by frost here. It also has elegant silvery buds that are nice against evergreens.

I had a Leonard Messel in zone 4 and it was bullet proof in the cold, to at LEAST around -25. Flowers were a light pink though. I also planted a - Susan - I think it was - the flower color was darker, like a purple almost. I had some issues with it, but it was a small tree, and I think it was mostly varmint damage, not cold damage. I cannot vouch for how cold hardy it was, but it DID survive MN winters.

I have a Betty that performs quite well here. The coldest it has seen is -15F, so I can't vouch for extreme hardiness, but the flowers have never been ruined by frost. It is (unintentionally) in a spot quite sheltered from wind. It is in a place where the water table is near the surface.

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions. I am blessed in that my yard is in an established neighborhood with lots of mature trees around me. While we do get wind here, it's not an open field or new subdivision situation with winds howling through unimpeded.

The fact that the new darker selections are from the southern hemisphere has me hesitant about their hardiness for me, especially in light of the recent polar vortex being the second such event in less then five years. I have a Jane magnolia in my yard since 2009, I like it, but the flower shape is what bothers me the most about it. It looks goblet shaped for a few days, but then splays open and the tepals just hang about. I don't mean to come across as picky, I really love that tree, but for my next magnolia I would like something with a better flower shape.

Another option I found in my research has been magnolia Sayonara, listed as hardy to zone 4 or 5, depending on sites. Has anybody experiences with it?

Basic descriptions of 'Sayonara' and 'Susan' are here. With links to two photos of 'Susan' included.

https://magnoliasociety.org/CultivarChecklist

The latter day crossings by members of the Jury family in New Zealand continue to make use of the genetics of the purple 'Lanarth' Campbell magnolia to get large deeply colored flowers. Supposedly in nature the purple flowered type that yielded what became 'Lanarth' (it was raised from wild collected seed) comes from the softest climate areas that the species occupies. Consistent with this the best examples of this version in Britain have tended to be seen in the past in mild western coastal gardens. That have winter temperature regimes comparable to those of northern coastal California.

Make sure whatever type you plant receives enough sunlight. Mine was in a partially shaded area under larger trees. I had the overhanging trees trimmed last year and it is literally covered this year with expectant blooms. We had a handfull of flowers last year but this Spring the tree will literally be covered in blooms. Good luck.

Yes, the sheltering evergreen backdrop for an early spring blooming magnolia should be far enough away to not grow over the top of it.