Bad Year for Crapes?

13 years ago

My wife's Crape Myrtle barely flushed out this year. It did put out new leaves and it did bloom, but nothing like what it did last summer (when it was still trying to establish itself). It also did not put on much growth. It did try sending up some suckers from its roots, but I removed these in an attempt to get the tree to put its energy into trunk and limb growth. I did not fertilize the tree as I understand Crape Myrtles really shouldn't need any. While I might be concerned about it, I'm noticing there are lots of other Crape Myrtles in and around The Villages that don't look like they're fairing much better, even the big ones. Seeing as how the Crape Myrtles prefer to grow in zones where there is at least some cold weather, I'm thinking the mildness of last winter has caused the Crapes not to perform as well as they would if weather had been steadier and cooler. But I wanted to find out from others if you all have noticed a rather weak display from your Crapes this summer?

And I have no clue as to the variety of her Crape Myrtle. It has red blooms and if I had to guess, I would say it's one of the semi-dwarfs, just not sure which one.

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Comments (7)

SusieQsie_Fla
13 years ago
Maybe the winter weather does affect crapes' summertime performance. I remember one year with a milder winter, all the crapes were putting out flowers late April-early May.

This summer, there were lots of gorgeous crapes here in this neighborhood, but mine were pretty pitiful. Maybe 'cuz I watered and fertilized 'em.....they're all still in pots in shady spots, so maybe they don't appreciate those conditions.

However, I was surprised to see this little year-old baby putting out blooms in Sept. It's my only '12 cutting to bloom, so I never expected it so late:
Irma_StPete
13 years ago
Your baby is darling!
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Irma_StPete
13 years ago
As to the question, here in midland St Pete, following an almost non-existent winter in my yard, my crapes seemed late to bloom and to have peaked rather soon. I think it's a revolt.
judyk_2008 9a DeLeon Sprs. (NW Volusia)
13 years ago
I've had crapes around my house for 17 years. I probably am close to the same zone as Lady Lake. It seems like some years they do good and other years not so good. Mine were much better this year than last. I even cut back my biggest one (30 ft) to see if it would bloom better and it did. But so did all the other crapes that I didn't do anything to. So? What I do hate are all of the volunteer crapes that come up everywhere. That's how I got so many and don't need any more.
corar4gw
13 years ago
Yep. I've waited all summer for my crape myrtle to bloom. Some of the young ones I started from cuttings a couple of years ago, put on a better show than the big one. Maybe it was the warm winter. Well, they're predicting a very cold winter this year, so maybe we'll have a bumper crop of crape myrtle blooms next summer.
greenie1_gw
13 years ago
I agree that crapes seem to need cold weather. Mine here in Ft. Lauderdale is about 3 years old now and has just never flourished no matter what I do, and you don't really see many nice ones in south FL like you do farther north.
natives_and_veggies
13 years ago
A couple of my neighbors in Miami have crepes and some years they are lovely. This year, they barely bloomed and didn't even leaf out nicely. I think it's just too hot down here for them to bloom reliably, which makes me sad because I'd love to have one like the mature ones my mother has in Northern Virginia - they are a reliable joy every summer. Then again, something that thrives in a region where it is snowed on is probably not going to work nearly as well down here.