how long has it been planted ...

how did you plant it ...

were there any late frosts or freezes .. where are you.. big city name ..

is that one stem buried in the soil??? .. the one at 2 oclock from the tag ...

ken

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 I live in the Annapolis MD area and I planted her ~6 weeks ago. It was doing fine and even developed the 'smoke'. Fast forward to this week and I notice suddenly she's not doing so well. This was after noticing my two Crepe Myrtles had powdery mildew. I had installed all new landscaping and have watered somewhat frequently.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) I did trim away quite a few dead areas. I will keep my fingers crossed. @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 was asking about frosts and we've not had any in the area. The confusing part is that it was doing relatively well and then not so great. I'm wondering if it's a watering issue as it's near the house and maybe not as good about watering. We have had precipitation every week and sometimes several days though.

If you must remove another stem(branch) do the following. Lay it on a flat board and with a very sharp, pointed knife cut down along the stem from top to bottom so that it is in two sections and you can study the center core looking for a blackish discoloration rather than the healthy greenish/yellow color you would expect. The unwanted black color indicates Verticillium wilt. This is the quick method to identify VW.

Unfortunately, that blackened discoloration of the pith - or the streaking of the cambium for that matter - is not always present in cases of Verticillium wilt.

I had installed all new landscaping and have watered somewhat frequently.

==>>> how do you water .. lawn irrigation .. is usually not sufficient for newly planted large plants .. you need to insure you are getting water down into the root mass .. not just the first inch.. like a lawn likes ...

dig some small holes with a hand trowel or tablespoon.. AND FIND OUT about water at depth ... down where the roots are .. both in the gob planted.. and native soil ...

and then water accordingly ...

i would hope you were sold 'clean' stock ... i would expect that Ag inspectors would be on the look out for such things as VW ... and i would not expect it to appear.. within 6 weeks of purchase ... so i would presume its not getting enough water ...

and the mildew is classic overhead watering at night in the heat of summer when the leaves stay damp all night long.. hence the question about how they are watered ...

in other words.. you jumped out to an extreme diagniosis ... before you have verified the primary needs of the plant ... so lets start with wateing...

btw.. the plants are still in transplant stress/shock... they are not hungry ... fert is not a response to any of this ...

ken

No way is that verticillium. If that were in my garden I would suspect not enough water. They can take full sun and thrive in it, but that one just looks stressed. Keep it watered and don't worry about it. If you want to put an umbrella or the like over it that might help it a bit but those leaves aren't going to look any better. Once this plant takes hold it is virtually impossible to kill, so just have some patience!