Plant them.

They'll grow better in the ground and the sooner they get established the better and Fall is the perfect time to plant.

If you are in an area where varmints like rabbits may damage them, put some rabbit fence or chicken wire around them to protect them for a couple of years.

where are you.. big city name ...

it might not hurt to wait a few weeks.. to get over shipping stress ... before planting them int he ground ... depending on how far south you are ...

but it is basically october.. so it probably doenst matter ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

If zone 7B, no problem.

If zone 7A, they probably should be planted, but you might consider shading them from winter sun, and covering them during really cold outbreaks in winter. And keep them well mulched. Hope for another mild winter.

Thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be planting them! :)

'Little Gem' is on the border of hardiness in USDA 7. In fact even in my cool summer part of USDA 8 it has recurring trouble with cold damage.

They are planted. So far so good, but we haven't had too much cold weather. Time will tell, but I think they'll be just fine

"they do suffer in particularly bad winters..., but they also recuperate well."

But why plant something that's going to look bad after "particularly bad winters"? When there are plenty of other nice cultivars that are fully zone 7 hardy?

It's also prone to serious snow damage, as in breaking in half along a horizontal line about half way between the ground and the tip for instance. So it seems anywhere it is consistently snowy this plant could turn out to be quite problematic.

I don't get snow in my area, and last winter averaged 60s during the day, but nights do get colder.

You're in USDA 7 and it doesn't snow?

Only 1 day a year and it doesn't stick

I'd be interested to know where this amazing location is :-) Even in my very mild maritime climate (I live only a block up from the beach) we can get snow....and from time to time a lot of very heavy snow. May only last a day but that's all it takes to suffer a lot of snow weight damage!

I have a magnolia here in Pennsylvania (a Jane). We're...not exactly known to lack snow, sometimes up to two feet or more.

Magnolia do fine and don't suffer noticeable snow damage; the branches shed the snow easily and aren't one of the trees where one plays pick-up-sticks afterward.

Source: I live here and have, indeed, played pick-up-sticks post-blizzard. :-)

Oh--I should add that they don't seem to have too much trouble in ice storms, either. We're not prone to extremely heavy ones, but even in the couple of heavy ones we have had (and numberless lighter ones), the local magnolias have been just fine, including mine. Other trees...not so much. Even my Thujas have taken a bit of a beating due to being dense and evergreen, but the magnolia drops leaf and is open-branched and sturdy enough to deal with it.

As far as planting, November is a tad late but you might be able to squeak it out. Water well if the locale is protected and mulch up to about 3"-4", and as close as 4" or so from the trunk of the young tree.

If it's open to winds and unprotected, I might keep them indoors in pots over the winter in the brightest possible light. They'll probably lose their leaves anyway, which is fine. If they don't, that's fine too (but at those light levels, they almost certainly will). Once they do, keep them in some light for best performance and spring light-detection, but that's not critical.

Move them outside in April when temperatures rebound--the pots are, of course, above ground and don't have the soil protection for the roots that they'd get if planted.

There is a huge difference in both hardiness and snow load tolerance between a deciduous magnolia like Jane (almost none) and an evergreen magnolia like Little Gem (can be considerable). And as noted by multiple commenters, Little Gem is not overly cold tolerant compared to other M. grandiflora selections and seems also to be overly prone to snow damage.....all those big evergreen leaves are great at catching and holding snow. But then all evergreen magnolias can experience snow damage. Both types of magnolias are common in gardens here but the only noticeable winter damage will be with the evergreen cultivars.

Comparatively bushy headed ones like 'Saint Mary' and 'Victoria' appear significantly less prone than others.

Tiger Lily described snow as "Only 1 day a year and it doesn't stick," so if you'd noted that from the OP before replying, it would certainly not be an issue and I'm not sure where your initial claim came from in the first place. So I don't think she (as I presume the name is a Peter Pan reference) will have any issues at all. In most colder areas, "evergreen" with these will also amount to "squishily semi-deciduous" as well where temperatures dive well below freezing at times.

But not being local, you can't be presumed to know that, of course. Here in Zone 7B, they're occasionally used but touchy. I could get away with it but went with the sturdier and more compatible Jane.

I'm still not a hundred percent comfortable with planting new shrubs in November due to the lateness of the hour, so to speak, but still willing to push it in protected areas.

It's interesting to note that blizzards are not even an issue with the overgrown rhododendrons I grow and never trim, which are fully evergreen around here as well, and fully wooden and not at all flexible once second-year.

Since the OP has not disclosed where in the vast territory covered by a zone 7 she/he lives, being 'local' or not is moot at this point. And a zone 7 with only one day per year of snowfall that never sticks is indeed a rare occurrence and a particularly unique locale if it even exists!

Your description of these evergreen magnolias as being "squishily semi-deciduous" would also lead one to assume that you have not actually grown one yourself. Colder temperatures than they are happy with results in burned, almost freeze dried foliage that is retained until it typically falls on its own. Nothing "squishy" nor semi-deciduous about them at all!

Tiger Lily described snow as "Only 1 day a year and it doesn't stick." I think we can assume she knows what's she's talking about.

ETA: Sorry, I realized that might be considered a touch harsh to point out actual characteristics observed locally and that some personalities were probably going to take that amiss because some people take everything amiss--and I don't have the time, inclination, or energy to deal with it today.

Let's just point out that if Tiger Lily expends half the energy taking care of her magnolia that some people do trying to prove that it won't work in that locale, and that they're always right, it'll end up being absolutely gorgeous.

Tiger, please take photos, we'd love to see it.