I bought a little crepe myrtle last year and it appears that if it's going to come back it's going to have to come back from the ground. I'm somewhat dissapointed as that I thought some of the newer ones had a little more hardiness bred into them. We're just waiting to see if this one makes an appearance this year at all.

Janet

Hi Janet, thanks for your response. There are some more hardy crape myrtles such as Acoma and Dynamite (beautiful red). Did you happen to read in the Herald Leader today (Fri) the article about KY being now considered zone 7 and that the crape myrtles are thriving much more here than in the past? Interesting huh. Happy Gardening!!

There are hardy crepe myrtles, but even they have a tendency to die back to the ground in winters where we don't have any snow cover (like most winters?). You have to buy the named varieties for the hardy--most of them have Indian names, like Hopi. If they don't say the name and you haven't looked it up, then don't bet on it being truly hardy. I also had a woman at a nursery say it WAS one of the hardy ones, and when I researched it more, it wasn't....we kind of have to treat them as woody perennials here on the zone 5 cusp of 6.

I have two regular crepe myrtles which I know are pushing it for my zone. However, they came through this nasty winter just fine because they are slow to awaken. They do catch up to about 3', but you don't get the lovely cinnamon bark and treelike form you see in Virginia or other places further south. We used to say that Richmond was the Crepe myrtle line in Virginia. Williamsburg was better for having them get big and luxuriant.

Didn't catch the article in the Herald but when the wind is blowing, the tractor won't start, the cows are looking for a hand out and the water tanks are all froze up I'm thinking more of a zone 5a instead of any 7!

I will say that there are a few myrtles that are 10-15 feet tall here and there in Frankfort. I figured the one bush was because it was within a couple hundred feet of the river and that kept the microclimate a little warmer. The other one though is on high ground on the other side of town. I guess it's just rather hardy. No tree sized plants though.

Janet

I have a red crepe myrtle that has come back wonderfully from the harsh winter, but I don't remember what variety it is. However, my mom and dad live close by, and they have two myrtles, a pink and a purple. they seem to be very slow to return and not much growth on the brittle limbs. Maybe because they planted them on the windward side of the house. I still suspect that my red myrtle is just a hardier variety because it looks much better and is just as exposed as theirs. I live right by the Ohio river in the Portsmouth area, and we are listed as zone 7 by the arborday map, so the river may help us. I also have a sapling slash pine and camellia that are doing fine.

DO I TRIM TO THE NEW GROWTH ON CREPE MYRTLE THAT SEEMS TO HAVE NOT HAVE MADE IT THRU THE WINTER TRIMMING TO THE GROUND SEEMS DISAPPOINTING BUT IF IT HAS TO BE DONE I WILL IS THERE ANY OTHER OPTIONS?