Put Down That Crape Myrtle!

O.K. so my sister and I went down to Kentucky for the annual Route 127 Sales. (It's our yearly bonding trip, and yes, we had a great time!) We were down around the Harrodsburg-Danville area, and for some reason we seemed to notice all these crape myrtle blooming. ("Hey! How come the lilac bushes are all in bloom?!")

Well, outside of Danville we found a nurseryman at a fleamarket who solved the mystery of the beautiful purple flowering shrubs. He had crape myrtle in 5 gallon pots for $10 each. I was able to bow out of buying one, knowing my postage stamp garden was no place for such a huge shrub. But my sister was totally smitten and just had to have a crape myrtle for her yard.

"But...they're not cold hardy, are they?" I hesitantly asked. The nurseryman assured us that any hybrids with "Indian names" would be totally fine in Ohio. (I think he said these were "Tontos").

Now I had my serious doubts about this whole thing. If crape myrtle grew in ohio, we would have SEEN crape myrtle in Ohio. But my sister is just as bull-headed as I am when it come to convincing herself that something will work, so we loaded "Moaning Myrtle" into the SUV and headed back North.

So what now? Does anyone know if this crape myrtle will survive in Columbus, Ohio? My sister does have a sunny but sheltered corner where two sides of her house come together. Do you think this might be enough of a microclimate to make it work? Or are we bound to commit "myrtlecide"?

You might get some 'freeze back' but the root system should survive just fine. Your sis may have to settle for a shrubbier form that is smaller, but since they bloom on new wood, she'll have color. She might make sure that the ground is mulched well.

They grow to small 'treelets' here in west KY, but further south they are full sized trees with trunks that may be as much as a foot thick.

I would love it if mine would be full sized trees, but am also quite happy with the form I have too. I'd tell her to go for it.

There are several nice specimens that are 10-15 foot tall along lakeshore Blvd. East of Cleveland. I have one of the "Indian" varieties and it has frozen back to snow line the past 2 winters (I'm not so close to Lake Erie as above). It grew to about 2 foot tall this season and is a wonderful tidy shrub (perfect for your postage stamp). It is also currently in full bloom.

I'll try to get a picture of it in the next few days and post it along with the exact variety.

And in Proctorville Ohio, Think Huntington WV They are a fine large growing shrub. with no dieback. So In a protedcted spot, you will have a healthy chance.

Went out today and photographed the CM. The cultivar is 'Victor' and it is a dwarf.

The thing for your sister to remember is that they break dormancy much later than most trees, even in the south. My late inlaws always tried growing them in NJ and then when everything else had leafed out and the CM was still a stick, they would pull it out. One year I noticed all these other CM's blooming in their neighborhood and finally figured out what had happened to theirs. Have faith - and patience, CM's are really tougher than they look.

We have one here. The nursery said it was a 'Tonto' I would describe it as more of a fuscia/pink flower. They still blooming around my area. I don't think she is going to have a problem. Here is my picture from PF http://dg.davesgarden.com/pf/go/38140/index.html

-Kim