Potential crepe myrtle tree threats Here are three pests and diseases to keep an eye out for if you have a crepe myrtle tree. Powdery mildew: This fungal disease swoops in when the weather is dry and warm during the day and then damp at night. Learn how to manage powdery mildew. Aphids: These pests feed on plant sap, leaving behind a sticky substance called honeydew as they go.
Here's how to prevent aphids from feeding on your tree. Japanese beetles: These leaf-chewing pests love crepe myrtle trees. In summer, Japanese beetles will gnaw on leaves all the way down to the vein.
Find out how to get rid of Japanese beetles. Still not sure what type of tree you have? Contact your local arborists! We are more than happy to help. Share This Post. Join The Discussion.
Prev Page Next Page. Related Blog Posts. Request a consultation How can Davey help? I am a homeowner and need tree and landscape services at my home. I need services for my commercial property. Tree to 20—30 ft. Light green leaves to 4 in. Especially handsome bark: the smooth gray outer bark flakes away to reveal glossy cinnamon brown bark beneath.
Small white flowers are borne in 2- to 4-in. Resistant to mildew and best known as a parent of hardy, mildew-resistant hybrids with L. The premier summer-flowering tree of the South. Tolerates heat, humidity, drought; does well in most soils as long as they are well drained. May be frozen to the ground in severe winters in the Upper South, but will resprout. Variable in size some forms are dwarf shrubs, others large shrubs or small trees and habit spreading or upright.
Trained as a tree, it develops an attractive trunk and branch pattern. Smooth gray or light brown bark peels off to reveal smooth, pinkish inner bark; winter trunk and branches seem polished. Mildew can be a problem. Spray with triforine Funginex before plants bloom, or grow mildew-resistant hybrids of L. The flowers are followed by seed capsules about a half-inch across and these seed clusters are attractive too, especially on larger trees.
As the first clusters turn to seed new side shoots are formed with new flowers, continuing the display for months and months. Overall, Crape Myrtles are valuable plants that can be used in a variety of ways in the garden wherever a shrub or small tree is needed, with the great bonus of a fantastic flower display in many colors.
The majority of people spend most of their time in the garden during summer. That is when we want to enjoy the fresh air, the warmth and the sunshine. On the hottest days the garden offers shade and coolness and invites us to sit in it. However the list of summer-flowering trees and shrubs is not that long, so Crape Myrtles, which will reliably flower from early summer to frost, become a center-piece of the garden wherever they can be grown.
With the range of sizes and colors that are available the choices are virtually endless. The taller varieties of Crape Myrtle make excellent deciduous screening plants. Not only are they rapid-growing, deer-resistant, drought-resistant and adaptable to most soils , they will be covered all summer long in glorious blooms.
Instead of an ugly view you will have beautiful flowers. They will provide visual privacy for a pool area or stop strong winds and protect more delicate plantings. To maintain a dense screen it is best to trim the plants back each winter from the first planting, so that they develop many stems and stay green to the base.
Once they have reached the required size they can be trimmed lightly in late winter and they will flower all summer on new growth. One of the most popular uses for Crape Myrtle is as a specimen tree or shrub in a lawn. Many other flowering trees are simply green-leaves during summer, but a Crape Myrtle makes a colorful center-piece to the lawn throughout summer. The centre of a lawn is often the sunniest place in the garden, too, so your tree will benefit from the continuous sunlight and bloom very vigorously.
With such a wide range of flower colors available they can be linked to color schemes in other parts of the garden. Since this is a tree that is easily pruned without damaging its flowering, it is relatively easy to control the size and keep it within the bounds of your garden.
Remember when choosing a spot for a specimen tree that you should plant it a sufficient distance from buildings for it to develop properly. You should also consider what is directly above it, particularly power and telephone lines. Many specimen trees are too tall to plant beneath lines safely, but since Crape Myrtles are relatively small they are an excellent choice as specimens for planting below power-lines and by choosing a suitable variety you can plant below even quite low lines without causing interference and potential danger.
The summer flowering of these gorgeous plants makes them great subjects for planting among spring flowering shrubs to continue the display of flowers in your garden throughout the season. They are especially useful for planting among or behind smaller shrubs, since they will form a fresh, green backdrop when those plants are in flower and then create drama and color excitement when the early flowers are gone. Since they can be trained up on one or a few stems they can easily be planted into beds of existing plants.
You may have a collection of shrubs that are nice in spring, but when summer comes there is nothing very interesting to see. Plant Crape Myrtles in among your existing shrubs, train them up a little and they will add valuable height to the display , give summer color and yet take up very little additional room.
Your other plants may even appreciate the shade in summer from the hottest weather. When planting into existing beds it is important to dig a good-sized planting hole and add plenty of organic material to enrich the area, so that your new plants will become well established. In larger gardens you may already have large shade trees further away from the central part of the garden.
These may form a pleasant green background, but think how much more exciting it would be to look across your garden and see trees covered in bloom. Some of the larger varieties of Crape Myrtles look wonderful planted in sunny areas in front of full-sized shade trees. Here they will need little or no pruning or other care and since they are very drought-resistant they will grow well in these kinds of areas.
In a few years these colorful small trees will make beautiful focal points of color all summer long. It is important when planting borders of shrubs and flowers to keep the plants in the front low enough that they will not block the plants behind. Many people use flowering annuals and perennials in front of larger shrubs, but this can mean a lot of work planting and caring for them.
Using small shrubs is a more modern, lower-maintenance way to fill these foreground areas, and the smaller varieties of Crape Myrtles, which only grow 3 or 4 feet tall , and can be kept even shorter by pruning, are a good choice for this job. With their colorful flowering all summer long they will brighten the garden in the same way flowers do, but with a lot less work for you.
By mixing them with other smaller flowering shrubs you can create a beautiful picture in the garden without the constant replanting needed with flowers. As gardens get smaller and more and more of us live in town houses or apartments there is a growing demand for plants that will grow in pots, planter-boxes or other kinds of containers.
Often these are planted with flowers that only last in summer, or need regular replacement. Wise gardeners are using dwarf shrubs instead, since once planted they will live for years. The ideal plant is one that will flower continuously during summer, when the terrace or balcony is being used most. The smaller kinds of Crape Myrtles, or for larger terraces even the medium-sized ones, are a great choice. They will be fresh and green in spring, smothered in blooms all summer and beautiful in their fall colors too.
If you miss a watering they will take drought happily and they will live for years in their pots. They can be kept small and bushy, or trained up into one or a few stems to give height and interest. Crape Myrtles are one of the best shrubs for containers on hot, sunny terraces, since they love the heat and sunshine. Michaux grew these plants at his garden outside Charleston and from there they were distributed across the city. They thrived in the warm climate and became a powerful symbol of summer in the South.
Crape Myrtles are known to botanists as Lagerstroemia and there are around 50 wild species growing in warm regions from India and Asia to northern Australia and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Although there are around 50 species in the group, only a very few are grown in gardens or have been used to develop the beautiful modern forms we grow today.
Wild Crape Myrtles usually grow in warm or tropical regions as shrubs or trees. They are typically found in forests among taller trees, in sunny clearings or on the edges of woody areas. Some species produce good lumber that can be used for anything from railway sleepers to furniture.
They play an important part in the ecology of the natural forests in their homelands, providing food for insects, and one species is used in India to feed the moths that produce Tussah silk. The plants that Michaux introduced and which formed the beginnings of the many varieties available today, belonged to the species Lagerstroemia indica , which grows naturally in China, Korea, Japan and India.
It is usually called the Common Crape Myrtle. In the wild this plant grows into a multi-stemmed tree that is perhaps 20 feet tall. The leaves are small, oval in shape and dark green. In fall the foliage turns spectacular shades of yellow, orange and red before falling, leaving bare branches that are attractively mottled with multi-colored bark in shades of pink, cream and gray.
The flowers of the wild plants are usually rosy-red to red in color. The following species are rarely grown in gardens in their wild forms , but they have been very important in bringing desirable characteristics into the breeding programs that have produced the modern hybrid Crape Myrtles that are so widely loved today.
Lagerstroemia fauriei is known as the Japanese Crape Myrtle. This species is more tree-like than the Common Crape Myrtle, but the flowers are white, with just a few plants showing a slight pink flush in the flower.
However this species is more cold-hardy and more resistant to powdery mildew than the Common Crape Myrtle, so it has been extensively used as a parent of hybrid varieties to produce plants able to grow well in colder zones. Lagerstroemia subcostata is called the Chinese Crape Myrtle.
It is a shrub or small tree and is notable particularly for its bark color, which is a brilliant burnt orange. It grows wild in the mountains of Taiwan and has white flowers with pink or purple markings. Lagerstroemia limii is a small multi-stem tree growing to around 12 feet , which is found in hilly areas of China. The flowers are a reddish pink color. It has been used in breeding to introduce darker flower colors and shorter sizes. Not content with the offerings of Nature, because of the problems of powdery mildew on these plants when grown in humid climates and to develop plants hardy in colder climates, plant breeders have turned their attention to making improvements in Crape Myrtles.
The National Arboretum in Washington, D. Egolf concentrated on two main areas, improving cold hardiness and improving resistance to powdery mildew. In addition he wanted to develop forms with new flower colors and good fall leaf color, growing on plants of different heights and forms.
This program was very productive and produced many varieties that are reliable plants widely grown today. The plants are usually between 10 and 20 feet in height, depending on which variety you choose and so they make ideal shrubs for the background in your garden or for specimens in the lawn.
In this breeding the common Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica , was used, but in addition rarer species, introduced especially for the breeding program, where used to provide more variety and disease resistance. The main additional species used were Lagerstroemia fauriei , Lagerstroemia subcostata , and Lagerstroemia limii , which are described above.
These plants introduced hardiness, disease-resistance, different sizes and new colors into the plants. Plant breeders take pollen from one plant and use it to fertilize the flowers of another plant , which are protected from being visited by pollinating insects so that only the pollen introduced by hand will be effective. The resulting seeds are grown and when they flower they are carefully examined and tested.
Many hundreds and even many thousands of seedlings are produced in this way, but only a very few make it to the next stage. Plants which the breeders then see as interesting are allowed to grow taller to get a better idea of their qualities when they are mature. The very best of these are then propagated and send to nurseries and growers across the country to evaluate them under various local conditions of climate and soil.
Based on those evaluations final selections are then made. So from many, many seedlings just a handful will make the final cut and be given names before being released officially to nurseries.
All the National Arboretum Crape Myrtles are named after tribes of Native Americans, so they are easy to recognize by their names. The Arapaho Crape Myrtle is a tall variety reaching around 20 feet with red flowers that are a true red, not just a dark pink. This tree has excellent resistant to powdery mildew.
Its taller size makes it a great choice for background planting or for a specimen in your lawn. Although bred in this tree was not officially released until , so it is still relatively uncommon in gardens.
The Catawba Crape Myrtle , a shorter form reaching between 8 and 10 feet in height and covered all summer in flowers of a gorgeous rich purple color. It also has fall leaves in powerful orange and red tones and especially attractive grey-brown bark in winter. Additionally, It is resistant to powdery mildew and always has clean, glossy leaves.
Because of its shorter height and dense growth it makes an excellent screening or informal hedge plant. It was introduced in The Muskogee Crape Myrtle is the ideal choice if you want a large tree.
It can reach 20 to 30 feet in height and is covered all summer with beautiful blossoms in a perfect shade of lilac. It has excellent mildew resistance and outstanding bark color, with shades of grey and soft orange predominating.
The fall foliage is red and orange. This tree also has a dual use, since it is tough enough to survive winters in zone 6 with just some damage to the top growth. If it is pruned back in spring it will re-sprout and flower later in the summer on a shrub that will be 6 to 10 feet tall by the time fall comes.
This hybrid was introduced in It has pure white flowers, making a very elegant show in the garden and it also has good mildew resistance. This variety is also notable for its spectacular bark color in cinnamon brown , an unusual shade for Crape Myrtles and showy all year round. The fall leaves are yellow, orange and orange-red in color and make a spectacular display. The Tuscarora Crape Myrtle will reach 20 feet in height and is an especially vigorous grower, forming a vase-shaped tree.
It has delicious coral-pink blossoms all summer and besides its excellent mildew resistance it is also notable for the attractive red color of the new leaves in spring. The bark is mottled light-brown and the fall colors are orange and red. Although bred in it was not introduced until The Sioux Crape Myrtle grows between 15 and 20 feet tall and has a narrow, upright form, making it ideal for smaller gardens.
The blossoms are an attractive mid-pink — a softer color than many other Crape Myrtles and the fall colors are rich shades of deep red and purple. The bark is grey-brown in color. This plant has won several medals, including Florida Plant of the Year in As would be expected it has shown good mildew resistance in trials.
The Tonto Crape Myrtle is a recent introduction from , which has flowers of a rich, fuchsia pink color and excellent mildew resistance. This multi-stem shrub grows 4 to 10 feet tall, so it is ideal for smaller gardens. The fall color is a brilliant maroon and the leaves fall to reveal cream to beige bark in winter. The National Arboretum Crape Myrtle breeding program was so successful and introduced so many wonderful plants to gardeners that the popularity of these valuable summer-flowering plants increased enormously.
This led other breeders to try their hand at making improvements and Dr. Carl Whitcomb has made some very valuable introductions. He worked in Oklahoma at the time and he used special laboratory techniques to encourage his Crape Myrtle plants to develop new, different genes. His work was very successful and he is responsible for the introduction of 8 terrific varieties of a second-generation of hybrid Crape Myrtles. The Dynamite Crape Myrtle makes an explosion of red when the crimson flower buds open to show cherry-red blossoms.
Even the young spring foliage is red and the plant will grow between 10 and 20 feet tall. Whitcomb was especially interested in developing Crape Myrtles for colder areas and this plant is hardy to minus 5 0 F, making it hardy right into zone 6 and bringing Crape Myrtles into the gardens of millions more happy gardeners.
Even in colder areas, although the branches will be damaged, the tree will come back after pruning to make a spectacular bush around 6 feet tall, covered in flowers from mid-summer to the arrival of frost.
This tree was introduced in The Pink Velour Crape Myrtle begins to flower with crimson buds, but they open to a clear pink which does not fade in sun or shade, as commonly happens with older varieties. This is a more compact plant, reaching around 10 feet and is multi-stemmed and shrubby. Even in colder regions it will readily re-sprout from the base, making a bushy 6 foot shrub and flowering well. This plant is also notable for the strong red color of its spring leaves, which stay red for several weeks and remain a dark, reddish green all summer.
It also has good orange fall color. It was also introduced in Over the years gardens have become smaller and even the smaller varieties of Crape Myrtles are still quite large, usually reaching 10 feet or more in time.
So there was a big need for smaller plants and this became the next focus of breeding programs. Michael Dirr was already famous for his work and his name is known to every gardening student for his classic text book on trees and shrubs. He runs a breeding program at the Center for Applied Nursery Research in Dearing, Georgia, where among other plants he has turned his attention to Crape Myrtles. These plants mark a dramatic change in the form of Crape Myrtles.
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