What is your favorite Crape Myrtle???

I am looking for a smaller CM One that grows o 6 foot or so. Any suggestions??

I'm not sure which size this will be but the RED, not bright pink, is stunning. It is the brightest things going. I love it. Do they work for you in zone 6? I'm 6/7 on the line and do well with them but many in close areas don't have luck with them.

Whats it look like do you have photo?

I'll post tomorrow, remind me

My favorite crape myrtle is "Dynamite", and I also like "Hardy Lavender" a great deal. I propagate crape myrtles, along with many other woody plants as a hobby, but I am way out of your zone. I live in crape myrtle paradise. The dwarf crape myrtle - razzle dazzle - cherry is beautiful, but it won't reach 6 ft. In our area crape myrtles are a gardener's staple. Wonderful plants.

many wonder how I have a yard with lots of crapes here in but I had them in my other yard a mile away too. Not many people in this area have them. I love them.

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jess2132000 - The.National Arboretum has a lot of info on crapes including size and cold hardiness: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/crapemyrtlefaq2.html

Peony01 - How do you go about propagating Crape Myrtle? I have several different ones in my yard and have always wondered how hard they would be to root cuttings from.

My favorite Crape Myrtle around 6 ft would have to be Prairie Lace. I just lucked up onto this in a small nursery about 4 years ago. It's about 5 ft. tall now, and probably won't get too much bigger.

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That is stunning. Here is my lavender and thanks for the link

Crape myrtles propagate easily from stem cuttings. I use green, but firm early season cuttings, July on in our area You can take multiple cuttings along a lengthy stem, snip off the leaves from the part of the cutting that will be below the surface of the potting medium, wet the medium (allow the water to run through the container), stick the cuttings in a nursery container (I use gallon containers) and set the container in a shady spot. I usually put two cuttings in each container, but it doesn't matter - I've experimented a great deal. Less water is better than too much. As Michael Dirr says, the woody plant stems are predisposed to root. If we don't kill them (usually with too much water, causing root rot), they will root. I water from below by putting the container periodically in a plastic storage container (the kind you can get at Wal-Mart) containing water. I just let the container with the cuttings sit in the water for a few minutes, until I see the planting medium moist, lift them out and put them back in their shady spot. I don't mist, I don't use growth hormones, and I don't make tents for them (for humidity), but I live in a hot, humid environment. I am still taking cuttings and will do so until about the middle of the month. If this doesn't make sense, let me know. It's not as complicated as we gardeners make it. Good luck.

How long before they bloom - 1 season or more?

Shihtzumom - Beautiful lavender Crape! One of my favorite colors. I planted a Muskogee in the front yard for my husband.....lavender was his mother's favorite flower color. It's about 20ft. tall now and still growin'.

Peony01 - Thanks for the info....definitely gonna try it. Do you bottom water to keep the soil from compacting? Right now my problem is too much rain. Not enough to keep the grass from dying, but just enough to rot new cuttings in pots. Have you ever tried starting a flowering crabapple? Flowering peach? Are different trees harder than others? I really want to learn how to do this. Up until now I've been an inside gardener and a perennial gardener. Gotta learn how to do the shrub and tree thing. : )

Roxanne

Crape Myrtle Muskogee

Crape myrtles bloom on new wood, so you will have a few blooms the following season. Watering from above is not a good practice for any woody shrub - it brings on disease. I propagate trees from various types of seeds - redbuds, dogwoods, various oaks, and river birches. The tree experts on the forum can talk to you about propagating fruit trees. There may even be a forum for fruit trees and such. There is a forum on propagating, and those knowledgeable gardeners will give you the ideal way of propagating. I've just learned over the years that it really isn't very complicated where I live because of our high heat and humidity.

Thanks Peony01. I'll have to find my way over there in the next few days.

Hello, Peony1 Do you use a specific planting medium? Like Miracle Grow or some other brand of mix.

I love CM and have many. I am going to try your method, like I need anymore. LOL I don't thing you can ever have enough CM.

Amber, You need a good medium with little or no fertilizer, so you must check all of the Miracle-Gro mixes. I actually use Sta-Green Tree and Shrub Planting mix (Sta-Green is the local Lowe's brand) which is being marketed to use in mixing with existing soil when planting trees and shrubs in the soil. It has a very low fertilizer content (0.09-0.06-0.05) and the stems root easily in the high pine bark/sand/compost mix. Any good potting soil with little or no fertilizer will work - just soak it good before sticking the stems, and if possible, water from below only when the mix appears to be drying out. Less care is better than more care. Just keep them in the shade. Good luck.

This is CM Red Rocket. It's 4 years old. I'm not sure how large it will get. Check PF.

Thought I'd post a photo of the fall Bronzing of the foliage on the red rocket. The berries are bronze too.

Really nice pic. I didn't even think about taking pix of the fall foliage. Good idea.

I am a beginner gardner, living in the panhandle part of Florida where my yard is all sun, wanted a little shade, and discovered that crepe myrtle trees grow here very well. I was looking at the ones suggested such as Natchez and Miami; but, have thought about the Mousokogee and the Empress. I noticed that online people have them ranging in price from $59 to $200, any suggestions to where I might buy a good tree from?
joy112854

Joy, I bought my two CMs on Ebay for $3 each.

Stormla: Wow, that is reasonable. I found one, the Empress that sells for $29 and that is reasonable I think for trees. I need one in the front so badly that lends shade and the crepe myrtles are so pretty with their blooms I love seeing them everywhere and know they will grow where I am, so have made my mind up that I want one now. LOL
joy112854

Make sure you check out the heights before you buy one--there's a huge range of sizes in crape myrtles so make sure you get one that's going to be a decent size tree vs a smaller shrub. The other thing to check on is resistance to powdery mildew--Muskogee and Natchez are part of a series of hybrids that were developed with this in mind, but Empress and Miami are not part of that series so you may want to research them before buying (not saying they aren't resistant, I just don't know).

Ecrane: Thanks I will do that.
joy112854