I wish that you would post this in the Trees Forum, where most people ask about the pruning of crape myrtles.

I used to have a slide show of butchered crape myrtles taken just in my own community of Beaufort, SC. Finding beautifully pruned specimens was a challenge, but it was helpful showing them in comparison.

Thank you for the advice rhizo. :-I

Around here there are many smaller types that are used to good effect in the perennial garden due to their long blooming season and they are considered shrubs or perennials. There are also many miniature cultivars available now. I have noticed many people write about shrubs and annuals here as well, but I will certainly take your advice under consideration. :)

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Fri, Sep 6, 13 at 14:59

Pokomoke Crepe Myrtle. Dwarf Cultivar. The point I think was to choose a plant to fit the allotted space. Some plants do not fit in certain spaces with other plants and it is ridiculous to try to force them to fit against their nature by over zealous trimming.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Fri, Sep 6, 13 at 15:49

Oh, I love that Pokomoke dwarf!

I love crape myrtle but have killed it enough to accept that I'm just a bit to cold for it to be happy here.

My plan was to post about how I really don't mind when people cut back all the branch tips and end up with those big fat hanging clumps of bloom.... but then I opened the link. Egads... to chainsaw prune a tree down to three feet and then use hedge trimmers to square off the regrowth.... hmmmm. Each his own I guess.

I believe the "post this in tree forum" was more so because many people think crape myrtles need to be trimmed like this in order to bloom well. It's good advice and should be there as well.

Just watch it, the tree people often get into squabbles about crape vs crepe. Childhood issues I guess.

Kato, We say "crepe" here. These "bushes" have been used everywhere since I was a little girl and after starting this thread I had to look it up because I have never ever considered them trees. A tree you say, really? To my surprise, they are considered trees.

They are beyond common around here, just like Rose of Sharon is and sort of the same deal in my head. Something you plant in any soil, forget about it and it will make it no problem. Boring. There's lots of plants that are common as dirt elsewhere that I would give anything to be able to grow so I understand the frustration of being out of the zone for something I want. Crepes don't need supplemental water, they don't care how hot and dry it gets, they just bloom and bloom so they line the highways and streets a lot.

Butterfly Bushes, which I consider in the same category as a good summer blooming shrub, are becoming common here too. The only thing is they are way thirstier. You get a lot more bloom with a "crepe" but you don't have the smell or the butterflies. There's these new small crepes that look like summer azaleas. These are becoming very common too along with the Knock-out Roses for long summer color.

Oh and thanks for the heads up about the squabbles on the Tree Forum. I need another one about as much as this city needs another CREPE Myrtle. I think I will pass on it.

This post was edited by GreatPlains1 on Sun, Sep 8, 13 at 19:10

It is definitely not too cold in zone 6 to grow good crepe myrtles, although special siting and care in early years helps if you want good-sized crepe myrtle trees.

I have had long-term survival and good performance from two different dwarf seed strains. Although dwarf is a relative term - several plants (from the 'Little Chief' series, as I recall) bloomed at over 7 feet in height this year and have had all or nearly all their woody growth make it through the past two winters. Elsewhere I've had a more dwarf specimen (in hot pink) going for close to ten years, now flowering at a little under 3 feet tall.

Very nice long-blooming perennial shrubs hereabouts. And the only trimming necessary is to remove dead wood in early April.

This post was edited by eric_oh on Sun, Sep 8, 13 at 23:47

eric, I have to disagree just a tad with the zone 6 thing. Yes you can grow them like you say but inevitably, a winter will eventually come to knock them back or kill them. My sister up in Kansas zone 6 can verify this. There in Wellington (Kansas border) and ^ beyond^ every single Crepe Mrytle got killed a just a few years back. Sometimes they will come back from the roots and sometimes not. The old common pink unimproved variety is the hardiest. Not a single one survived.

Here in zone 7 back in the 1980's we had an unusually long Indian Summer that extended well into December. Then right before Christmas, there was an Arctic Express that came down and killed hundreds of them. Dropping the temperature about 80 degrees in a few hours into a frigid windy nightmare did a number on them. The problem that year was, the Crepe Myrtles had not hardened off at all. Southern trees and shrubs will do that since they are not programmed with the same defenses of Northern varieties. Hundreds of Crepe Mrytle in the city were killed and the rest that died down to the roots had to start over. I lost a big one that had become tree-like that had beautiful trunks that was very old and tall.