By Free Lance Writer, Arlene Correll

06-26-03

Dear Friends,

When your crape myrtle starts to flower, the hot weather is setting in.

I do not know a lot about crape myrtle and I have two large bushes that I keep doing things to that probably defies all the laws of gardening, but they keep coming back.

I live in zone 6. Our daughter, Glynis, has just moved here from zone 7 and the street she lived on was loaded with crape myrtle in the form of sidewalk trees of all colors. It is a lovely street. So the note below about zone 7 may or may not be correct. Perhaps all those houses on that city street keep the air warm in the winter time for the crape myrtles.

Here is the research I have done on crape myrtles.

After the first flush of blooms fade, cut off the flowers and apply a light fertilizer for a repeat (but smaller) bloom. If crape myrtles fail to bloom for you, it could be due to too much shade, hard winter-type pruning performed too late in the season, or having too short of a growing season.

Depending on your personal tastes, consider these options:
- They are normally multi-trunked and respond well to pollarding, an old European way of hard pruning that produces a beautiful umbrella-like effect. However, once started, you must continue this method for the remainder of the life of the tree.

- They can be grown as standards with a rounded top, and will reach from 10 to 20 feet high. They are effective in groups, or as specimens.

- Mildew resistant varieties usually bear Indian names, such as 'Catawba' (purple), 'Cherokee' (bright red), 'Muskogee (light lavender), 'Potomac' (pink) , 'Powhatan', 'Seminole', 'Tuscadora', my favorite, (coral pink), and 'Natchez', (white, 25 ft).

- Semi-dwarf varieties (6 to 10 feet) are 'Acoma' (white), 'Hopi' (pink), 'Pecos' (pink), and 'Zuni' (lavender). And dwarf varieties are also available to 4 feet. Vibrant fall color and lovely winter bark are a bonus.

If you're at the northern end of zone 7, your crape myrtles could die to the ground. Most crape myrtles are root-hardy as far north as Massachusetts if well mulched in winter, however, expect vigorous growth and blossoming by late spring to early summer. Select a planting site with a southern exposure, and/or a protected area such as a wall or steep embankment. Lagerstroemia 'fauriei' is a newly developed hybrid that performs much better in colder climes, and blooms earlier in the season.

Propagation via seed is easy, and seedlings often bloom the first year. You'll need a month of cold stratification (a Ziploc baggy kept in the fridge will do it) for easy success.

Cuttings are easily rooted, and will be true to parent varieties; but may not bloom until their second year.

Crape myrtles are being planted in pecan orchards for their properties of attracting and sustaining beneficial insects, and can serve the same purpose in the home landscape.

Contrary to many resources that claim these plants to be disease and pest-free, if you're in a humid climate expect powdery mildew and aphids. However, don't jump the gun on insecticides; the crape myrtle aphid is host-specific to only crape myrtles, but is the preferred diet of 30 or so of our best beneficial insect predators. To destroy the crape myrtle aphid is to deprive your garden of a host of natural predators.

Touted by entomologists as probably the most important landscape plant in the southeastern U.S., crape myrtles are being planted in pecan orchards for their properties of attracting and sustaining beneficial insects, and can serve the same purpose in the home landscape.

Flowering occurs on new growth, so winter pruning is necessary for best results. Vigorous root systems wreak havoc on anything but the most persistent perennial underplantings and groundcovers. Liriope 'Big Blue' makes a lovely ground cover underneath, blossoming simultaneously.

If you're lucky enough to grow crape myrtle, look forward not only to weeks of hot weather and colorful bloom, but a safety net of predator insects.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime… may your day be filled with…

Peace, light and love,

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