if it took you this long to discover them.. then one might suspect that they do not thrive in your area ...

add the fact that local nurseries dont want to sell you stock that will will probably die ...

i think you have your answer ...

zone pushing is a very expensive game .. things might live a few years ... and then pow ... a cold winter ... its up to you.. if you want to play the game ... i wish they grew up in my MI ...

ken

You are so right . a very expensive game. I just noticed them because I am tree shopping. Also, the one in the picture drew me right in to their nursery - alas. As I said, minus 5 seems iffy -- No, you will not see them if you are tree shopping in lovely Michigan. They are really a southern belle tree. Thanks for your thoughts. P.S. The fact that the specimen in the picture is 5 years old - in RI - gives me a glimmer of hope. Thanks again.

What a coincidence. My daughter just bought a crepe myrtle today! I researched a bit before I went to help her plant and saw that it is listed a zone 7 plant. I am almost literally on the edge of zone 7, although I always plant for zone 6. My daughter is not a gardener, so I explained the whole zone hardiness thing to her, and she decided to go ahead and give it a shot. Her plant is smaller and, relatively speaking, inexpensive, so she's taking the gamble. I'm interested to see how it will do!

:)

Dee

How very interesting that your daughter purchased one. Is she also in CT - a zone 6 area? We are in East Greenwich which is a 6A zone, I believe. They are so lovely - I am very tempted. Hope her plant thrives! :-}

There are several threads on the New England gardening forum about crape myrtles. Here is a link to them. Some are great and some don’t have a lot of information.

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/neweng/query/crape-myrtle/nqrw

Yes, Pv Picotte, my daughter is right down the street from me lol. I'm just north of Bridgeport, and just west of New Haven, so it looks like I am farther south than you, although my immediate area is a higher elevation than the surrounding area - it snows here when it rains 2 miles down the hill lol! She bought Magic Sunset, and fell in love with the very dark foliage, which is indeed unusual. We'll see. She seems to think it's worth taking a risk. Her plant was about 1.5-2 feet tall and I think it was about $30, give or take $5. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for those links, Babs! I wouldn't mind doing a bit of reading up on these myself.

:)

Dee

Wow-great info Margaritaville. I do want a tree - I would like to find a smaller one and give it a try. A question for you. I watched a vid about the species and the guy said they are very prone to aphids. I have a beautiful viburnum that some aphids attacked seriously before I happened to notice them. I got to them in time but they are really destructive. Have you found the aphids to be a problem with this plant? Your Dynamite is gorgeous!! Thanks again.

Thank you to all for such informative posts. I will check out sites, NHbabs.

I found a crepe myrtle around the corner from my house. Person who had it in her garden didn't know what type it was-it was 5 years old she said. I grabbed a branch with some flowers that had passed by and were now seeds. I am going to try planting them in a pot for the heck of it. Her tree was about 8 feet tall and very bushy. It could have been pruned before it reached this stage into a tree but she didn't do it. Anyway, here are the seed pods.

Think I'll have any luck?

Those aren’t ripe yet. And for the record, its a crApe myrtle.

tj

There are a few that have dried up - think they are ripe. As to crApe - I've seen it both ways - crEpe and A. but thanks for the observation.

You will get more hits in searches spelling it crape, though as you said it does get spelled both ways at times. I am sure that is why tj made the comment as he is not typically pedantic.

Yes indeed. Glad to hear that -- If one is too pedantic, one loses their appeal. Here is what I saw when I opened the dried up seed -- a few, small, rather greenish, almost translucent "beings" inside. I have a few of the dried up seeds. I'll try these first - give them a few weeks to germinate and if nothing, I'll plant a few more in the spring. I'll take a picture of them and post. Thanks very much for your input. Crape Away!! :-} Here is a photo - not green but tan. They look ready but who knows.

Regarding the question about aphids, no, mine have never had aphids. Mine have had the issue with the white powdery mildews. But like I said, the hybrids are less prone to this, all my cases of mildews involved the pure indicas (such as the Dynamite in the photo above), those hybrids (which are in fact a cross between the Indian Crape and a Japanese species, don't experience the mildews from my experience. They are somewhat vulnerable to these white, powdery mildews as Crapes seem to resent really high, constant humidity, especially if crowded and with a lack of proper ventilation. One more thing I can add, they are not heavy feeders, in fact, I NEVER have fertilized mine. However, they DO NEED FULL, day long preferably and heat. They also tend to leaf out later in the Spring, so if you don't see buds in March, don't assume they are dead. Exfoliating bark is also a characteristic of the species (not a sign of trouble), and they also take well to pruning. Personally, I like the to keep three to five of the main branches and prune growth closer to the ground. Good luck.

Great info once again, Margaritaville. I have a lovely 6 foot dogwood that started developing powdery mildew earlier this summer. I was advised that Neem Oil was good for that problem. I sprayed lightly 3 weeks in a row (1x a week) and it cleared up. Glad to hear about the lack of aphids. So tiny-so destructive. Thanks.

Ive had 2 in North Providence, Rhode Island for about 6 years, they take long to sprout in the spring, but by June, they look amazing!

Truly beautiful. N. Providence not too far from me so maybe I can get one to grow here. I did plant some more seeds about 10 days ago and a couple of little green things have come up. And I mean Little! Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for lovely pict and info.

Seth, if you bought those locally they are almost certainly a hardiness selected variety. Did you keep the labels? Great to see them up in RI even thought they are overplanted in the South.

Its a dynamite red (Lagerstroemia indica 'Whit II') I got it at Lowes in North Providence.