Hi Lin,
I wanted to show you my Banana magnolia. I am in Zone 8...more at the Northern(harsh) part. This species is very hardy here, in fact, I have never seen a bit of cold damage. It has been covered in snow and ice more times than I can remember. This morning it was a lovely 22 degrees (ugh). I would not be afraid to plant one in zone 7. The bush/tree in the photo was planted in 2005 as a 1 gallon. It has never been babied at all; in my yard, for most things it is a sink or swim situation lol. I just wanted to encourage people to give it a shot if they are in a marginal climate such as mine. This photo was taken this a.m.- it was white with frost an hour earlier!
