A Fraser magnolia that's looking good

To the left of our back deck, we've transformed a weedy mess into a small mountain vignette, but it's been challenging.  The down spout from the apartment next door doesn't function all that well, even after "repairs," so water pours off the roof in rainstorms.

We've tried sassafras there, and something else before that (that I forget)-- the rhododendrons and kalmia are recent and look fairly decent, hanging on after lots of soil amending, compost-adding, etc.

A recent addition of Gorge Rhodendron (Rhodendron minus) is growing well, but we're thrilled that the Fraser magnolia (which was an online order from a nursery in the midwest) and that we thought was dead as it arrived as a sapling, many months after ordering) is flourishing.

Fraser magnolia, hemlock, etc.

It's looking lovely and well-branched in its third full year.