Can you post a picture? The minis can usually be identified by their growth habit - lots of branches coming out close to the ground. Tags do get mixed up a lot.

Thanks. I feel better already. I will post a pic. I'd like to plant it by my mailbox. So I'll be in regret if it turns out to be a tree :)

Here is a pic (I hope) of the shrub. If you can see the tag it says cordon bleu and the pic is pink. Thanks in advance for your help..

I don't have that cultivar, but I've seen pictures of them growing in real life gardens (in other words, not the color touched-up pictures you might expect from some nurseries) and even those were all much more lavender than yours. It is weird that the tag also shows pink blooms. CrApe myrtles don't always come out like we expect, but yours does seem atypical for that cultivar.

Thanks. But do you think its a mini? I really want to plant it by the mailbox, but not if its going to get really big. I appreciate your thoughts.

Mislabeled? At Lowe's? Oh, Lowe's would never do anything like that, never! (Yeah, right!)

It certain DOES however, look like one of the dwarf/miniature C.M. cultivars. They just have a certain look about them, the size and spacing of the leaves, the habit of the branches, the overall form. I am reasonably certain it's a dwarf/miniature type.

Something you MIGHT want to try if practical -- I've done this a number of times when I'm not sure about a plant placement -- in-ground potted. I pot the plant into a significantly larger pot with good mix and drainage, and then bury the whole thing where I think I want it, and let it grow that way a year or two. By that time, I can usually determine if the spot and plant are a good match. The only drawback is that this takes some extra attention to watering. I've not had any problems with root issues such as circling roots, because I use the much larger pot and only leave that way two seasons at most, often just one. And, if it's NOT a good site match, this makes it easy and stress free on the plant to relocate.

Thanks all. Mailbox planting it is. Will just have to watch carefully for the first 2 seasons. Appreciate all of the feedback. Hope my mailman does too :)

fwiw, i planted a 'pocomoke' dwarf/mini some years ago and it eventually started sending 3' tall growth (above the basal mound) up through the center. don't know if that is typical but perhaps they are only dwarf with judicious pruning.

Mzdee, hello. I would like to know how your 'Cordon Bleu' crape myrtle turned out. I planted four in summer 2007; the blooms are light-pinkish lavender, and the shrubs are now small trees - 14 feet tall. Bought at Lowe's; tag info as wells as other horticultural info says

the cultivar was supposed to mature to 3 to 4 feet!

Hey There. I lost my shrub to winter kill a couple of years ago. I did get a couple years bloom, all with pinkish lavender kind of color. Really pretty, but I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a dwarf. Yours are BEAUTIFUL. I'm inspired to try again.

hey ... if you buy your stock at a hardware store... then you are easily going to get mislabbeled plants ...

buy from a higher end nursery .. and odds are.. you will get what you want ... its worth paying a little more for such ....

and with online ordering.. you can get whatever you want ... delivered to your door ...

but do check any of the watch dog sites to verify the quality of your seller ...

btw ... dwarf does not mean they will stay small ... nothing stops growing at some magical height ... dwarf refers to annual growth rate ... so if the standard grows 3 feet per year.. a dwarf might only grow one foot ... so one gets to 9 feet in 3 years.. and the dwarf in 9 years ...

but neither ever.. technically stops.. and that is when pruning is done ... and that is part of the definition of a shrub.. something you do maintenance on with pruning ...

ken

Oh well, on to bigger and brighter ideas as the poor shrub only lasted 2 seasons. I have only a few things in my "in progress landscape" that I have purchased at nurseries. Mis-labeling issues at the big boxes aside, a plant is a plant is a plant.......... The big box stores have neglected their stock and it has yielded for me gorgeous hydrangeas, incredible knock out roses, daylilies, coral bells, clematis, homerun roses, peonies....the list goes on. Most notable the 6 pack of wave petunias for a buck that I bought 4 years ago that keep on coming back year after year......... So yes, if its something that I must have (and at this point in my life, it ain't likely) there is a small chance that I will pay a higher price for pedigree. That's probably why I don't own a dog :)