Do Crepe Myrtle survive in your climate, anyway?

The crape myrtles advertised on this website were supposedly hybridized for zones 4-7. I originally ordered them when Chopin's operation was located in Pennsylvania. None of them survived because they all arrived DOA.

They wouldn't have survived your z5 winters anyway -- the new USDA types are at best hardy in z6.

On the question of hardiness, I suspect there is more to it than just the zone you're in. I purchased a 'Dallas Red ' ( the flowers were medium pink, so I think it may have been mis-labled ), which is supposed to be one of the more hardy types, but it was killed to the ground with a winter minimum temp of 9F. Maybe it needs to be covered for a winter or two. An area that needs work, for sure.

Crape Myrtles As a grower I have been growing outside for more than 15 years here in USDA zone 6a. Depending on the type some are top hardy to near -10F or -23C otherwise they will come back from the ground even from -24F. The tallest ones I know of are in Spring grove area near Cincinnati zone 6a that are still multi-stemmed totally exposed with peeling bark and that are almost 18ft tall! They have over 50 plants in the ground there will no problems at all. About chopin plants I heard bad news all the way small plants or dead plants arriving without ever getting a refund back. For hardiness of there plants I doubt zone 4... but I seen perfect root hardiness to zone 5b.. remember they flower on new wood. For trying in cold climates there are a # of different types to choose from. The supersonic types are perfectly root hardy to zone 5 surviving -24F, Sarah's favorite is petty hardy. Velma Royal Delight is another good one. Townhouse is good. Even the more tender types such as Twilight still flower here and are top hardy to about 5F. Dallas red is suppose to be a cold hardier type but has not proved cold hardy at all... but it will act as a perennial flowering shrub to zone 6..

So sorry about your problem with your Crepe Myrtles. Arent they going to replace them? Thanks for the info...I just wanted to tell you to scout around and ask for cuttings of the ones you like. They are easy to root...Spring time is the best time to root them here.

I guess I got lucky! I ordered Chisam Fire's the year before last and they arrived in good condition. We have had some windy winters in SW PA, but it doesn't seem to bother them.

Whether the plants would survive in Ann's zone 5 climate is really irrelevant if the supplier is not delivering live plants! (Or is it O.K. to ship dead plants if you figure they won't live in zone 5 anyway?) It seems to take a lot of transgression before the BBBs take action so the situation with this supplier must be BAD. Thanks, Ann, for the warning.

Thanks for the warning because I was only a matter of minutes away from ordering from crapemyrtle.com. I am glad that I found this forum and warning in time. Thanks...
Does anyone know of a dependable, quality source for crape myrtle for zone 9. Thanks, again.

Just found these posts about crapemyrtle.com I had written them last year about coming out to pick my own out, they said they were going to be open to the public this year...I emailed them a month or two ago about driving directions and they never answered my email.

Argh!!!!! I wish I would have looked here before ordering 20 mini's back in April. They arrived as tiny little sticks and haven't shown any growth whatsoever (perhaps they were dead already???). All attempts to contact Crepemyrtles.com in Gainesville have gone unanswered. Their web site made all their crepe's look beautiful and I fell for it hook, line and sinker! Once again, ARGH!

I purchased 6 Dallas Reds and one Musgogee from crepemyrtle.com, all arrived alive and well. However they charged me for shipping which was supposed to be included in the package deal. I phoned them without response.

I planted the Crepes in October of 2002, amended the soil and mulched to 4 inches. All of the Dallas Reds are alive and beginning to leave out. Nothing from the Musgogee as yet.

Now I was told that I could expect tree size Crepes even in my zone of 6a. What do you think?

Bill

Thanks for the info on Crape Myrtles.com. I was going to order 6-10 of the Pocomoke from Crapemytles.com - love this small CM shrub and I could not find any in my area (Maryland) last spring. Has anyone ordered from this company recently and received decent, live plants? Please let me know. Can anyone recommend a reliable source who sells Pocomokes?

Thanks

This is the best site I've found for finding reliable seed/plants sources. www.gardenwatchdog.com

I agree with the advice from "ducky 12" about gardenwatchdog.com. It's a GREAT site and a big help for all gardeners who order plants through mail order.

You may want to add your comments about this company on gardenwatchdog.com to save other gardeners some grief. It seems to be a very popular site, with users increasing daily.

First off I live in Zone 5, and my crape myrtle flourish every year. They may dieback a little or even to the ground, but they always grow back to there prior size.

I usually rely on local nurseries for all of my hybridized varieties. Greenleaf Nursery, a wholesale grower that produces numerous hybrids and dwarfs, sells to thousands of garden centers nationwide.

I've got a 20 y/o on the north side of my property that's about 12' tall, hmm.

Crape Myrtles are very easy to grow from seed, (by the way the nursary start their Crape Myrtles from seed also) you can collect seed at the botanical garden in fall or go to the state, city parks and collect them seed. i got mine at the outside dentis office, spread seed starting medium on a tray and wet it good then spread the seed on top,then sprinkler a thin layer of medium on top. put the tray out side sunny area when temperature above 60F, they will start to geminate
in about a week or so. Crape Myrtles are fast growing so you will have a buch of plants in a season or two. only collect the seed in your area so you don't have any dout how cold is your plant can handle. happy gardening to every one.

Thanks for the warning. I have been thinking about buying some Crape Myrtles for screening purposes.

I had a bad run-in with crapemyrtles.com, too... but I got SOME satisfaction!.... I ordered fifty red Sacramentos, the miniatures.... got little sticks, but they were healthy and I have a greenhouse, so they got a good start.... they went into a nice well prepared bed and bloomed their little hearts out the first year!!! BUT... they weren't RED , they were pink and purple... I'd re-done my yard to reflect the RED minis so now I had a yard with reds all over and pink and purple crepes... ugh... I also got a few plants that were goners, so I emailed, sent pics and got no response.... then, when they bloomed, I did it again... still no response.... so I went to the BBBonline.... they got after the company and lo, a box arrives!!... fifty MORE miniatures!!!.. wow, I thought!!.... these were half dead, roots running out the bottom of the little pots, etc.... oh, well... if they are RED, we'll just change them out next season!!.... lucky that I had a greenhouse, too, cuz those rootbound babies couldnt have survived long with out one!!..... so now, I've got one hundred plant!!!.... and guess what... there's not a red in the lot!!... arrrgh!!... and yes, you'll see my comments on GardenWatchDog.... this company is one of the worst that I've ever done business with!!!.....I'd like to see them removed from the web!!!.. if you Google crepe myrtles, theirs is the first seven sites you see!!.... too easy to trap the unwary..... glad you guys are getting the word out on this bunch!!!.....

now... as for hardy, since I'm in zone 7, mine do fine...I had a bad die=back last winter, but even the dead twigs are regrowing from the roots.... this is a plant I'd not just give up on till it withered to dust!!!

so... I'll have seeds coming out my ears and if any of you want them, put your request on the seed swap here... I'll find you this fall!!!.... I have fifteen more of the regular crepes, too... trees, standards and dwarfs... in most colors......

so, to summarize.... DON'T BUY FROM THIS COMPANY unless you are willing to take a chance.... maybe for one plant, I'd do it again, but not for anything totalling more than twenty bucks, that's for sure!!!.... sheesh... $300 worth of the wrong plants and the same ammount's worth again and still wrong!!.... not good...

I'm the member who started this posting, and I've never received any compensation whatsoever from David Chopin's company (crapemyrtles.com). If you have any seeds or plants to sell or trade, I'd definitely be interested. I don't care if they won't overwinter in my Zone 5 since I'd pot them and bring them inside. I'll post this message on the seed swap, too. Thanks!

I purchased 15 Mini Crape Myrtles (VIVA) from Home Depot for $1.97 apiece. They are fantastic! Growing and blooming beautifully. I wanted the mini's because they said they grow from 12 - 24 inches. That's about as big as I wanted them. (I'm using them for a border) It says on the label they are hardy to 25 degrees but maybe I can keep them alive this winter by deeply covering them in mulch. (Sometimes Memphis has mild winters ... sometimes it doesn't)* For $1.97 ea. I'll risk it and see what happens. I don't care if these are "The Orginal Mini's" or not as long as they are healthy,bloom and look beautiful. So far they are fantastic and blooming like crazy! I'm sorry you guys had a difficult time with the Crape Myrtle Company paying large prices for Mini Crepe Myrtles. Perhaps you are referring to Dwarfs which at Home Depot cost a little more? I'm not cheap. I'm a David Austin rose kind of girl but hey sometimes...>>> Home Depot. Think about it.

hi.. im so glad i read this.. i just received a notebook from crapemyrtle.com.. i wont be ordering from them after reading this. I live in NJ zone 6.. i wanted to get a crape myrtle for the side of my housue. A tree about 15 feet tall maybe 20.. any suggestions? How would it look in the winter? im very very new at this.. would the crape mytle shrubs die during winter?

So glad I read these posts before I nearly ordered from crapemyrtle.com!From now on, no more ordering sight-unseen until I check out their rep.

just add my name to the list of people hooked by crapemyrtle.com....

Bought 10 sticks from them.

I'm sorry that several people had problems with this company, which goes by several names: Mini Crape Mytles, Crape Myrtle Farms, Crape Myrtle Company, among others. I saw the posts about the company but decided to risk it and order my dwarf crape myrtles from them. Any where else I looked on the web, the crape mytles were from $17 to $39 apiece; from this company they were ony $6.25!
I crossed my fingers and called my order in. In three days I had all 20 crape myrtles, averaging two feet in height and all in excellent condition. They are now in the ground and doing fine.
I did notice that most all the negative posts about this company were prior to 2005. Since then the posts have been positive, for the most part. Perhaps the company has changed for the better??
Also--when I did a check with the NE Florida Better Business Bureau, under the name "Crape Myrtle Farms" I found only 1 complaint in the past year. I ordered from this "Crape Myrtle Farms" site, address Archer, FL. and saved a bundle.

trying to locate company which sells above plant. Thank you,

lorenzo

I was about to buy 30 trees from this company and then read these post. I decided to call and talk with them since like the earlier person most of the post were from a while ago. I decided to order my 30 trees and when they arrived I would say they were in good shape. I ordered 5 different kind so some were bigger and healthier. I will say they all had a pretty good root system for the small containers they come in which is about the only thing I have to go on right now until spring. I would say from the root system they were healthy. Will post in spring 08 for update.

If you like red, have you ever noticed dwarf red buckeye tree? It's hardy in zones 4-9, according to this site. You might want to google for other pictures in case the color has been photoshopped.

http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/productdetails.aspx?proname=Dwarf+Red+Buckeye

Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf buckeye

I ordered 3 crape myrtles from The Crape Myrtle Company and paid $84.00 with shipping. I never received them and got no response when I emailed the company.

I don't know how this company can have such negative reviews! I had a great experience with them. My plants arrived in great shape, rooted in soil. They even sent me a FREE one. I followed the clear instructions and they're growing great. They offer a nice product at an affordable price. I don't know what you people expected....probably 20' trees in full bloom for $20. You people need to realize they're plants and they GROW!

I had a bad experience, all crape myrtle plants that I ordered arrived as small dead sticks - all dead, I asked many times the company and David Chopin (don't know if there are multiple people responding under this name) about the state of the plants and in another email about a refund. They played the delaying game: asking for photos, then not responding, after I persisted, they told me to resend photos and did not respond again. Finally, after my persistent chasing, David Chopin asked to ship the plants back in order to get a refund. All in all this process took 4 month, the plants still being as dead as when they first arrived. I shipped those back and after not getting any response, sent another email - got a response: the company now asked me "what took me so long". I do not recommend dealing with these people.

I ordered 5 plants over 2 weeks ago and have not received them yet. My emails received very short, curt answers, with no tracking numbers for shipment. Total dissatisfaction with full experience and do NOT recommend working with this company. Cancelled the order and disputed the charges with my credit card company. Will refuse the plants WHEN AND IF they ever arrive.

Wish I would have known...We ordered 12 plants last fall and planted per their instructions. Not one of them has sprouted any growth. We have 12 sticks standing upright in the dirt. They refuse to take any responsibility, claiming a bad winter. When in fact, we had a mild winter. They just sent a newsletter, stating a blanket statement about the bad winter, so I am not the only one complaining.

Also, look at their reviews on their site, the last ones posted are from 2018! Hmmm...