The forecast is for a warm, wet winter due to El Nino. I would move it now, no reason to wait.

I can't say i am disappointed, I have grown to appreciate the warm weather and my skin dries out so bad if I don't have 100% humidity. Plus the dry static air and my hair... Not a good mix, my curly hair friends love it, but I look like a kid that rubbed a balloon their hair! LoL

I just heard on the Florida Gardening show that Crape Myrtles should not be moved until Spring. They would not have enough time to grow roots if transplanted now. Pruning should not be done now either. He said, February or March is the best time.

Jane

Having no formal training/education in horticulture, I could be wrong, but as I understand it, a dormant plant is just that, dormant. There is no active growth in the roots, stems or leaves. This is why barerooted trees are given away during the cooler months. So that they are already in-ground when the soil warms enough for them to resume growth. As such, transplanting a dormant crape myrtle in Decmber shouldn't be much different than transplanting in March and could even be better. Transplanting in March could mean you interrupt the tree while it is 'waking up'. The danger, I think, is that when people transplant a dormant plant in winter, they water like they transplanted an actively growing plant and so they end up rotting the roots away before Spring arrives. But again, I guess I could be wrong. Perhaps someone with more formal training can chime in.

Up here in the north, the general idea is that so long as soil temp remains at or above roughly 50F, root growth will happen. As to dormancy, if the buds-next season's growth points-are fully formed, the plant is essentially dormant, a subjective term anyway. Now I will readily admit-as I do on this board about twice a month-that I don't know Florida's horticultural idiosyncrasies, nor that of crape myrtle. Always have your salt shaker nearby when reading my stuff!

+om