Crape myrtle
 

A crape myrtle I planted this year started flowering. I hope it's not too cold for it here. I found on the net that is grows well down to hardiness zone 7, but hardiness maps for Europe are a mess, some say my area is 7b, some 7a, some 6b.

[IMG]http://fotkica.com/imgs3/1_111763039_1_2.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://fotkica.com/imgs3/1_111763039_2_2.jpg[/IMG]

You should be ok. That said, 7b can feel colder depending on exposure to prevailing winds, shade, etc.

Keep in mind that crape myrtle roots like to go wandering and will pop up a new plant here and there. In my area crapes are pruned in February while they are dormant. That's about two months before last frost (sometime in April).

That's a really pretty color! Do you have the variety name?

Beautiful color.

We cut a crape myrtle down about 5 years ago and paid to have the stump ground out - it is still sending up suckers. What a tough plant!

They are a dime a dozen here where I live and for good reason.
They are the cactus of trees and beautiful too.

I'm 6b here and crepe myrtle does great and easily survives the winters.

Dwarf crepe myrtle
 

I have three white dwarf crepe myrtles at the end of my patio. I took this picture at twilight so everything is a little dark. Crepe myrtles are everywhere here.

[QUOTE=GoDawgs;742898]

That's a really pretty color! Do you have the variety name?[/QUOTE]

No, I bought it at a flower show. They told ot it should be it should be pale pink. :)

They are rare here, never saw one in my town.

[QUOTE=arnorrian;742922]No, I bought it at a flower show. They told ot it should be it should be pale pink. :)

They are rare here, never saw one in my town.[/QUOTE]

It should be interesting to see what you have as time goes by. They are fast growers once established. Crapes can range in size and shape as dwarfs, mounding types and uprights. It seems to have large leaves so maybe it's an upright. They will also send up new shoots at the base, giving you the option of keeping those cut off and growing yours as a single-stem or letting a couple stay and growing yours as a multi-stem.

Older crapes will also have what's called exfoliating bark, a thin bark that naturally sheds leaving a nice mottled appearance on the trunk. So if you see bark peeling as time goes on, it's ok.

I've not found mine bothered by insects. If there are lots of aphids in your area you might eventually see a black substance on leaf surfaces that you can rub off. It's called sooty mold and results from aphids on the leaves. They secrete a sweet sticky substance (which ants love) and that substance molds in the right weather conditions. Insecticidal soap should take care of the aphids. Leaves with sooty mold will eventually turn yellow or orange and drop off.

Congratulations on being the only one in town with a beautiful crape! :yes:

Thanks!

Tree versus bush
 

Like Dawg said you can train your plant to be a tree or a bushy shrub. My crepe myrtle also attracts bees. Here's a close-up of the white dwarf. The color white is not often seen; the pinks and reds being more popular. By the way, arnorrian, that pink you have is a lovely color.

I'm glad the bees will like it.

[QUOTE=arnorrian;742993]I'm glad the bees will like it.[/QUOTE]
Here they like it over everything around.

Dark-leaded crepe myrtles
 

The leaves on these are almost a black color. I saw them at two nurseries recently, the first time I have seen them for sale. There is a woman in my neighborhood who has two crepe myrtles with the dark leaves and they look stunning.

P.S. The heading of the post should read dark-leafed, not dark-leaded

That's beautiful.

I have two of them they are dwarfs.
The city chopped one down and it is growing back nicely.

Spooky, those really pop against the dark leaves! Where will you place them?


So many crepe myrtles around, and all lovely. Mine are at one end of the porch, were planted back in the 1940's per the past owner who planted them, but he no longer recalled the variety name. But, they are pretty even when not blooming, and I do like them.

I love crapes, but don't like being under then when aphids or leafhoppers honey dew.

I have a white one, Acoma I think, that 20 years ago I told my husband was a dwarf, but my husband thinks it' s huge! Maybe 20 feet? Here is the bark, and the tree about 4 years ago, maybe 12 years old.The pictures don't capture it, but on some varieties, the bark peels away and leaves this mottled appearance.I had one pop up about 20 feet away, and bloom this year, but for some reason this one hasn't bloomed such this year.

Living in the southern (well, upper south) USA, Crepe Myrtles are all over the place. We have several

I planted several here. The first, fifth and ninth are dwarf/shrub Purple Magics. I don't remember the names of the others, but the rest are all full size/tree cultivars

[img]https://imgur.com/tb72sDJ.jpg[/img]


One of the Purple Magics. this picture does it no justice, but the flowers are a bright, vibrant purple
[img]https://imgur.com/2PJqZI8.jpg[/img]

We have two of these
[img]https://imgur.com/67FyytF.jpg[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/M0ewa8L.jpg[/img]

Purple, but will be tree-size. Two of these as well but the other one had not started blooming yet (pics are from a month ago). Not as vibrant as the dwarfs, but you wouldn't know it from the pics
[img]https://imgur.com/mqZIYdQ.jpg[/img]

Another horrible picture. The flowers are actually a very rich red. Also two of these
[img]https://imgur.com/LRqRKtB.jpg[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/lBo4dGe.jpg[/img]

This one we got from the Arbor Day foundation. It was [i]supposed[/i] to be a Golden Raintree. Wife accidentally ran it over with the mower when it was very small, which is why it is growing so weird now :dizzy:
[img]https://imgur.com/U1L7hZj.jpg[/img]

And on the side of our property near the woodline we have 10 or so of these we planted right before we got married (on our property) 10 years ago
[img]https://imgur.com/T8NhlU2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/gpTxgtS.jpg[/img]

We never cut ours back to stubs like some people do, we just prune them up some to keep them relatively clean

A couple pictures I just took that show the color of the Purple Magics a little better

[img]https://imgur.com/QQf6pOa.jpg[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/FtnLe8y.jpg[/img]

My wife's favorite color is purple, so when I saw these in the store I had to grab them!

That Purple Magic is a stunning color!

Really nice. I hope dark-leafed varieties get here too.

Imp, I didn't actually buy any of the potted plants with the dark leaves. I had just never seen them before for sale and I thought they were a very interesting variety. I see Sean in Virginia has two of the dark leaf plants.