Has anybody hit a magnolia in a pot other than stellata?

[AloeTom]

Any recommendations?

My neighbour has a gorgeous one with purple flowers in a ridiculously small pot. It’s now about 6 foot tall and 2 foot wide. I’m pretty sure it’s not a miniature variety or anything. So I’d say you can get away with keeping a non-stellata variety in a pot for a few years if you’re lucky and it doesn’t get clobbered with heat or drought or anything. But I wouldn’t spend too much money on the tree as I wouldn’t say it’s a long term investment!

Susan is purple and would work in a pot and you can get a pale pink stellata which would work.

They really dont like drying out though

We had a fairly large Susan in a 1m diameter pot for eight years and it was fine in our very sunny, south-facing Wiltshire garden (although we were forever watering it!). When we sold that house in 2018 we finally put it in the ground in our new garden (Wales) and it seemed to double in size in a year. By the time we moved again in 2024 it was massive, so I'd say the pot had restricted it, but nonetheless it did ok.

Currently we're struggling with a Magnolia Festirose Denudata we planted in the previous owner's - admittedly narrow - raised bed. We assumed there was no base to the bed when we dug the hole to plant it in late 2024 as we were able to dig a long way down, but despite flowering loads last year, this year it has just three buds. Now I can only assume the roots are being restricted somehow or possibly doesn't like our new coastal location 😥