Cold-damaged stems sometimes leaf out (if they leaf out at all) with tiny, weak leaves/sprouts as those stems were partially girdled by the damage. Not much to do except cut out the truly dead stuff.

Since virtually all CMs in the nursery trade are propagated from cuttings, the likelihood that this is a grafted specimen is close to zero.

I'd prune out the dead wood; if the tiny-leaved stuff bothers you, prune it out - but any leaf will conduct photosynthesis and feed the roots for better growth next year.

Mine die back severely almost every winter FWIW. Then leaf out in May. This year was an exception amd a bit of a warmer winter here. They are not really cold hardy in my zone.

Curious, what cultivar do you have?

Thanks Everyone for all the advice!

Toronado, I inherited the crepe myrtle with the house, so don't know the cultivar, but it has purplish pink flowers.

I tend to think winter damage. All crapes are not created equally when it comes to winter hardiness. Look down low on the affected stems and look for bark split/girdling.

So Princeton, any ideas on the possibilities?

Do you have any reason to believe your crApe myrtle was grafted? This practice is fairly common in some countries but is less common here in the US.

Did you come to any conclusion about the timing (for evaluation of this being a winter/cold damage issue)?

How about herbicides? Have you used any that could be involved with this problem?

Brandon,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm sorry for the delay - I thought I had replied, but did it from my phone & apparently UN-successfully.

Yes, it does sound like winter damage. Last year, it never really leafed out at all neither in the spring nor through the summer- I thought it was dead & was surprised to see any leaves at all this summer. Do you know if crepe myrtles are usually successful in overcoming winter damage (I'm in 6b). If it is going to straggle at best, I'll take it out; but if it will just take a couple of years to come back, I will probably leave it be.

Thoughts?

p.s. Not herbicides - haven't used any near this tree...I'm too lazy!

It really depends on the cultivar. Some crAple myrtles are reliably hardy in 6b, but many aren't. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there are more cultivars that aren't (especially in unusually cold winters) than there are that are (reliably hardy). One would hope that the nursery that provided the plant originally (if it was purchased from a local nursery, that is) would have chosen cultivars appropriate to the area. In reality, that often isn't the case. And, if it came from a big-box type of store, then the chances of the selection being carefully made is even less.

You could always give it another year or two and see what results you get. Or, you could take it out now and plant something that you were confident in. As Ken_adrian always points out, it's often more satisfying to remove uncertainty (or as he might call them, foo foo plants) and get a head start on something you really want.