Sometimes, I think that THESE are the national tree of Texas, alongside the pecan. You see them EVERYWHERE. I have 6, myself, a deep purple, bushy one, a blood red one, a tall pink tree one, magenta, lavender...I love 'em. A neighbor has an absolutely massive, umbrella-shaped one that's rather old. The wood can be a bit brittle, but the bark is beautiful. My blood red one got a bad case of sooty mold, but I spent some time blasting the tree clean, and after that, it was fine. I WILL go outside this evening to remove the flowering suckers, and thank you for that tip.
The first time I saw crepe myrtles in professionally maintained gardens, I was at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and I was in awe!!! They were stunning! I've never seen more beautiful trees and what's great about crepe myrtles is that they're such fast growers!
I live in Florida and so far I've planted 30 or so in my back yard . Most were in 1 gallon pots .. the ones I planted last year have just now started to grow more rapidly. I got them from a friend of mine.that works at a nursery . I bought them and planted 20 of them in my back yard staggered in 2 rows approximately 8 feet apart. Im hoping that it will create sort of a privacy barrier eventually
@@duanehostetler2027 I pruned them. It seems like it's taking forever. Maybe next month there will be improvement. Maybe I'm just impatient. I don't know if I'll get to see them get majestic or anything . It certainly seems I won't .
My father was from Georgia. His job was in New Mexico, but in 35 years of living in the high desert he had to have a crape myrtle. In January, 1971, the temperature went to minus 21 and the crape myrtle appeared quite dead. My father bought a new one and planted it in the same place. You can guess what happened! When that poor crape myrtle re-grew from the roots, my father had the only 2-tone crape myrtle in town!
I have 30 TONTO Crepe Myrtles growing along both sides of my driveway & around my yard. They grow up to 10' tall & bloom at the end of June, beginning of July; love em!
I live in southwest Missouri and so far have only seen the shrubby variety. We just visited my sister in Virginia, and she gave me to medium pink tree-form crepes. Virginia is just loaded with gorgeous crepe myrtles! I'm going to let them grow and not limb them up very high as I want the full, upside-down bowl shape. Great video!
Mr. Putnam seems extremely knowledgeable and includes advice, tips, and suggestions which are super useful for the casual gardener. After watching this video on planting, fertilizing, and tending to Crape Myrtles, I feel confident my five new shrubs will flourish after planting.
I found clipping the seed bunches during blooming season promotes more blooms as the plant doesn't have to expend energy on seed production and directs energy into more blooms, possibility too the blooms are nature's way of alerting the plant to produce blooms that make the seeds since they've been cut, a survival thing. Anyway, it works.
I was going to add this as a comment myself and I saw your response. I have done this for several years to my crepe myrtles. When the seed pods begin to form I take my Snips and take the ends off and usually within a couple of weeks I have new blooms resetting. I've had the entire tree in full bloom two times for a season. I love the extended season. It doesn't seem to affect the blooming for the next year, at least so far it hasn't for me.
I have a crape myrtle fetish going on right now, so I was really loving this post, and then I got that glimpse of Holly wandering through the frame! Now I'm going to be looking for her in the rest of the vids! Thanks again for all the inspiration. I hope my black diamond crape survives my skills.
Crepe myrtle are planted along the street in front of my apt. some seed i picked I planted in my yard last year I thought I killed it but then it came out around March and now it 's about 10 ft high.
I was just sitting at the window of my apartment enjoying the sun and in the 3 years I’ve lived here I’ve always wondered what the beautiful tree outside my window was, with its beautiful pink flowers. Did a little research and now I’m here. Beautiful trees, thanks for the informative video!
Hello. I live in western Nevada, zone 6b. I bought a small crape myrtle several years ago and planted it in a large pot. I bring it into a sunroom after the first frost, and keep it there until the middle of April. I bring it back outside and within days it is covered in new growth. It doesn't grow a tremendous amount during the summer, but it blooms beautifully from July until frost. Thank you for your video; I was pruning in the fall, now I will wait until spring.
This is the most overall informative video that I have watched concerning Crepe Myrtles, their planting, fertilizing, pruning and pest control. I have two beautiful native trees that are very old and beautiful that I am wanting more profuse blooming on. After watching this video I know what should be done to help this. Can't wait to put info into action and make a beautiful old specimen even more gorgeous. Thank you Jim.
Thanks for the info....I take care of a lot of plants including crepe myrtle at an assisted living facility and your channel is just what I needed...liked, shared, subbed and.....DING!
Thanks for all the great info, I bought 3 black diamond crape myrtles 2 yrs ago this summer, I accidentally mowed one down with my riding mower 😩🤷 I just knew I killed it but I didn't it came back I live in 7 mid-Tennessee I got a few blooms last year I'm looking forward to better blooms this year, these have gorgeous burgundy leaves and red blooms thanks for the info and trimming it up these supposedly get 10 to 12 ft tall
Crepe myrtles are amazingI love them I use them as arrangements and am so happy when they first start blooming. In winter chickadees eat the seeds left on the twigs. Very helpful info, thanks
Thank you for this informative video. I'm living w/my widowed father & he just had a huge tree in his yard removed; it blocked the sun so grass wouldn't grow & the roots were encroaching the bottom of the house, but we still want another tree--just not as big. We were debating between a peach tree & a crepe myrtle, I think the latter will win, there are so many lovely varieties. Even though my dad enjoys gardening, he knows very little about these tress & I know even less than he does, so this video helped.
Have some beautiful ones in my family home I grew up with these huge trees in my Childhood home I remember pulling off the dead bark and great climbing trees
Thanks Jim! The Arbor Day Foundation sent us two ( unasked-for) crape myrtle bareroot plants with a membership package of 10 bareroot trees. We live in NW Connecticut, in an area where Zones 5a and 6b alternate in North to South running hills and valleys. So I will probably keep these in two large containers in my mostly- underground storage room through the first winter. After I plant them out (because you wrote below that they aren’t great container plants), I’ll try the straw blanket for winter. And when they die completely, I’ll know it was pointless and try to not take it personally, and remember to say thank you and then throw away Zone-inappropriate plant gifts in the future!
Great video, you banged it out. Very informative. I live on long island ,and can't kill my crype myrtals. They start to bloom early August . Love the bark too. I guess they keep hybriding new stuff.
Thank you for this very informative and complete video on Crape Myrtles. Trying to grow three dwarf trees on my NYC terrace this year. This video was most helpful.
Ive noticed alot more Crape Myrtles in NYC. They've always been here but they really thrive now, and not just the shrub varieties but full fledged trees. Over the years a lot of the area has gone from zone 6 to zone 7b now and it shows.
@@dtone63 We got hardy dwarf varieties. They are absolutely thriving after being planted in April. I'm hoping they survive the NYC winter so we can enjoy them again. Such a huge amount of color and charm. Thanks again for your great video.
A ton of great information! I'm so thankful! I've been watching some of your older videos like this one and just keep getting a wealth of information. Thank you 😀❣
Great video. I have had some crepe myrtles (12 feet) for years and they are tough. I just took some cuttings from them and potted them in soil. The cuttings are growing great. I have another property that needs a few CMs. I am in zone 8/9.
I do not prune them as I have room for them to expand. I am in the mountains of the Zone 7 area and they thrive even in clay base soil and moisture content. Really a miracle organism, I have transplanted some I thought had no chance of survival (very short tap root) and they start to grow. I recommend the lavender (Muskogee), they like full sun all day and love if you water them when they are young. If you have rabbits, woodchucks, or deer watch out during the winter as they will eat the young crepes down to the ground almost. Wrap the trees with black plastic netting to deter a nasty surprise.
These are invasive in that the roots will send up sprouts in your lawn. Sometimes 15-20 feet from the plant. They also put out a lot of seeds. In 2017 I cut down six and had the stumps ground. Just filled an entire paper bag of sprouts today. I love how they look - but no longer in my yard.
I'm a transplant from the north (38 yrs. ago) and planted some Crape Myrtles a few years after I moved here. I have learned to love them more and more. Their bark is so beautiful and the stems make such wonderful patterns. I didn't think they provided anything for wildlife, but when they bloom the smaller birds are all over those branches - must be eating all those aphids and beetles.
I notice that black soot on my Camilla’s as well but not sure I’ve seen the aphids? Gonna use the soapy water anyway and clean them up. Thanks for the info. Love this channel!
You are right. I applied fertilizer late summer/ fall and it killed my Muskogee. I replaced it with a healthier one and am just enjoying it this summer. I am planting two Biloxis soo. Please review on one. Thanks!
Very helpful! I have a whole line of them that were planted next to the house but are the TREE kind. I'm transplanting them to better places around the yard.
I got a bunch and they are beautiful the only problem they stain the concrete, so make sure they are not close to your patio or driveway. Also they grow everywhere after the seed fall on the ground. I don’t put anything and they look just fine.
Looks like you have a bunch of em. I would suggest some pro's making some bonsai-type. I think they'd be cool and I really think they have some properties that would work well with it. The trunks look REALLY cool when they're older. Almost like they get liquified, a vert flowing look that would really present well.
Please post a video on how to permenatly stop the growth of the groundlings/ succor growth at the bottom of the CM trees!! Such a nuisance to keep lopping off week after week. Thanks!!
I bought really dark purple crepe and I have it in a pot. It was so lovely but for some reason half of the branches seemed to die! I was horrified but they seem to have new buds so maybe it will survive.
Thank you so much. Your comments were very informative and helpful. I do wish you would have addressed whether to cut off the seed pods after the first yearly blooming occurs.
There are in Panama, Central America. I live around 0-10 meters above sea level, we have only rainy season and dry season lasting around 6 months (depending on El Niño or La Niña) and have like 36°C to 30°C. So yeah, they can pretty well tolerate heat here.
“Myrtle murder” is a common thing Ive heard of but I have one in my front yard I didn’t want the first year (it was winter & I didn’t know what it was) so I chopped it to the stubs. It grew so well that summer. I chopped it again & it looked great the next year. 3rd year now, and it’s growing and getting ready to bloom again.
Ass alb the damage thakkopp,)):t’s caused from doing just that...chopping your tree, and yes, also known as crape murder. These beautiful trees will givebmmm mmm mmm ñ if left primarily alone are a stunning sight!! A Crape Myrtle should have several trunks☺️☺️ and then they grow with a natural shaped umbrella shape and the bark on their bard is
Hi Jim, love your videos. I was wondering if it's alright to trim off some of the lower branches to make a single trunk crepe myrtle. If so, which one do you keep, and which ones do you trim off?
I started a bunch of seedlings from seed about 4 months ago. One is already blooming. It only has about 3-4 stems growing horizontally and longest is maybe 5in but has at least 3 flower buds on the end and one fully flowering. The flower is light purple. Never heard of a crape myrtle seedling going from seed to bloom in as little as 4 months. I thought they would take years to mature before they bloomed.
Had a dynamite crepe get covered in aphids this season in wake forest. This was my first season with it and now I've managed to handle it by spraying them off with water and using neem oil slurry. It also had the black sooty mold and it definitely set the tree back hard. This was about a 5ft dynamite so its still young. Also had them on my ebony flames crepes too!
Owen Sands I hate those aphids! They just eat up my roses. It’s a running battle between myself and the aphids - but if I don’t keep fighting, they win. Constant vigilance is the price of freedom, and of keeping your roses alive and blooming!
@@Tina06019 I had the trifecta of pest on my tree this year. Wasp, ants and aphids. Noticed the wasps first. There was at least 50 of them swarming around the tree at dawn. I treated the ants and 2 days later sprayed the tree with water during the day & from a distance. I repeated that the following week and finally got the wasp under control but had to continuously spray the tree with water and spray the base for ants throughout the summer. Any tips you have would be appreciated! ❤
I used an electric pressure washer (lower power than gasoline powered) to blast upward through the canopy to remove aphids from the undersides of the leaves...after repeated unsuccessful efforts with Dawn or insecticides. Yes...it damages the leaves and blows out the dying leaves, but that’s the point. The pressure washer works well to then clean each branch, blossom cluster and trunk of the black sooty mold that results from the “honey dew” sap that the sucking aphids induce. Now I will use dormant oil this fall, prune carefully, and NOT over-fertilize like I did this past Spring. I read that over-fertilizing crepes will foster an aphid onslaught...and I witnessed that first hand.
I have crepe myrtle popping up everywhere in my flower beds from wind borne seeds from the neighbor's trees. Once the roots got established, it's so hard to get rid of them without harming my other plants in the flower beds. Damn.
I thought I killed a dwarf crepe myrtle tree last summer. It really looked dead. This spring it started leafing out. I wish I could post a picture right now. It has an amazing amount of blooms! (I almost threw it away.)
Hi Jim! I don’t know if you’ll see this question since it’s on such an old video. Hopefully, you will. :). Congrats on the 60K subscribers too!! I need advise on a crape myrtle for my flower bed. I have 2 corners that are 2 stories tall and full brick. It faces west so the wall will “shade” it from the morning sun which is concerning due to mildew. I would really like the crepe myrtle to be tall (15-20’) so it will soften the massive brick wall. It needs to be vase shape (no wider than 12’) so I can plant it about Bloom color is hot pink or red and fall color preference of red or yellow/orange. I am hoping you can recommend a Crepe Myrtle. I have read about a lot but can’t find a trusted resource.
The last 3 years I have been getting suckers growing from my two 10 yr nanchez myrtles i have beside my house in a landscape bed I mulch every year..I say sucker, but these where around 2-3 feet tall and very full.Last summer in june of 2017 I decided I would try to transplant them along my property line because where they was rooting they looked unsighty.I ended up tranplanting 13 over a two week period last summer..Well fast forward a year today..All of them lived except 1 and all the other 12 are blooming white..It looks nice..They have added alot of growth too..Whats crazy is I have around 10 more in the same areas I dug these up last year.I am gonna transplant those this weekend..I need to start me a crepe myrtle nursery lol
Jim ,I wouldnt eventually would love to stop this on down the road..Could I rub some type of sucker preventer on them after I dig them up?You ever tried anything like that?Any advice??
Our tree hasn't bloomed this season. My wife trimmed it last winter and the tree is about 7 years old. We haven't fertilized it but plan to start on a yearly basis.
Over-fertilizing makes the aphids even worse! I used a power washer to blast sooty mold and aphids from the branches and trunks. Tore up the leaves...but they will replace themselves next year.
I planted some in my backyard a year ago. They grew 3-4 feet earlier this year but they never flowered. I noticed the bark is black as well. Do you know what may have contributed to the blackness and why they did not flower at all this year? Thanks for the help and great videos!
I have an older tree, maybe 15-20 years old and is about 10-15 feet tall but never really seems to bloom fully all over and bushy pretty looking . The bark of the tree seems real slick looking. What can I do to make it bloom all over like others I’ve seen
I live in a neighborhood with a major pavement ant problem just realized there are also a lot of bushy-looking crape myrtles that aren't really maintained.
As far as aphids go you can also make a tea solution out of can chewing tobacco and spraying the solution on the plant. The nicotine acts as a repellent.
So much good information. Can you tell me which mid-size varieties are best for a front yard, to be planted about 15 to 20 feet from the house. Also, how long does a newly planted tree take to start blooming? Thank you!
Great video. Unfortunately I saw after I ordered the Black Diamond Crepe Myrtle instead of First Edition. First edition is more in line with size I needed. I love the almost black foliage against the white flowers. Both have this, now what to do with the Black Diamond now it has shipped; guess I will have to order the First Edition to get appropriate size. Will find someone who needs the larger or just keep in a pot to keep small. probably will do the latter. Barbara
Learned a lot. To the point without any ‘filler’ talking
Sometimes, I think that THESE are the national tree of Texas, alongside the pecan. You see them EVERYWHERE. I have 6, myself, a deep purple, bushy one, a blood red one, a tall pink tree one, magenta, lavender...I love 'em. A neighbor has an absolutely massive, umbrella-shaped one that's rather old. The wood can be a bit brittle, but the bark is beautiful.
My blood red one got a bad case of sooty mold, but I spent some time blasting the tree clean, and after that, it was fine. I WILL go outside this evening to remove the flowering suckers, and thank you for that tip.
I tried to find a blue one for my red-white-blue theme for my yard but true blue is not yet possible.
Best plant channel; so informative & well presented. Thanks, Jim, for a wealth of information!
The best video on RUclips for crepe Myrtle , has all information you need,
Thank you Jim.
The first time I saw crepe myrtles in professionally maintained gardens, I was at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and I was in awe!!! They were stunning! I've never seen more beautiful trees and what's great about crepe myrtles is that they're such fast growers!
You must be near me. We live near BG Williams. We are in Zone 8b and we have crape myrtles everywhere.
I live in Florida and so far I've planted 30 or so in my back yard . Most were in 1 gallon pots .. the ones I planted last year have just now started to grow more rapidly. I got them from a friend of mine.that works at a nursery . I bought them and planted 20 of them in my back yard staggered in 2 rows approximately 8 feet apart. Im hoping that it will create sort of a privacy barrier eventually
How is the progress gone so far? I’m interested in lining them down my driveway.
@@duanehostetler2027 I pruned them. It seems like it's taking forever. Maybe next month there will be improvement. Maybe I'm just impatient. I don't know if I'll get to see them get majestic or anything . It certainly seems I won't .
My father was from Georgia. His job was in New Mexico, but in 35 years of living in the high desert he had to have a crape myrtle. In January, 1971, the temperature went to minus 21 and the crape myrtle appeared quite dead. My father bought a new one and planted it in the same place. You can guess what happened! When that poor crape myrtle re-grew from the roots, my father had the only 2-tone crape myrtle in town!
@@SMElder-iy6fl Nice 🙂
I have 30 TONTO Crepe Myrtles growing along both sides of my driveway & around my yard. They grow up to 10' tall & bloom at the end of June, beginning of July; love em!
The Crape Myrtles in my neighborhood are just beautiful this summer. They must love the heat.
THANK YOU FOR SPELLING IT CORRECTLY! See my comment above.
I live in southwest Missouri and so far have only seen the shrubby variety. We just visited my sister in Virginia, and she gave me to medium pink tree-form crepes. Virginia is just loaded with gorgeous crepe myrtles! I'm going to let them grow and not limb them up very high as I want the full, upside-down bowl shape. Great video!
Mr. Putnam seems extremely knowledgeable and includes advice, tips, and suggestions which are super useful for the casual gardener. After watching this video on planting, fertilizing, and tending to Crape Myrtles, I feel confident my five new shrubs will flourish after planting.
I started watching your videos after stumbling on this one you have provided me with countless informative tips.
Thanks!!
I found clipping the seed bunches during blooming season promotes more blooms as the plant doesn't have to expend energy on seed production and directs energy into more blooms, possibility too the blooms are nature's way of alerting the plant to produce blooms that make the seeds since they've been cut, a survival thing. Anyway, it works.
I was going to add this as a comment myself and I saw your response. I have done this for several years to my crepe myrtles. When the seed pods begin to form I take my Snips and take the ends off and usually within a couple of weeks I have new blooms resetting. I've had the entire tree in full bloom two times for a season. I love the extended season. It doesn't seem to affect the blooming for the next year, at least so far it hasn't for me.
I have a crape myrtle fetish going on right now, so I was really loving this post, and then I got that glimpse of Holly wandering through the frame! Now I'm going to be looking for her in the rest of the vids! Thanks again for all the inspiration. I hope my black diamond crape survives my skills.
I don't care for their flowers, but I love their bare bark. Very informative. Thanks
This is still one of your best videos, Jim! Always so helpful to review it.
Crepe myrtle are planted along the street in front of my apt. some seed i picked I planted in my yard last year I thought I killed it but then it came out around March and now it 's about 10 ft high.
Elena Celeste what zone are you in
@@HectorDiaz-xk7iy p
I was just sitting at the window of my apartment enjoying the sun and in the 3 years I’ve lived here I’ve always wondered what the beautiful tree outside my window was, with its beautiful pink flowers. Did a little research and now I’m here. Beautiful trees, thanks for the informative video!
I like this flowers i have that 5 colors collections makes me happy when i see blooming
Hello. I live in western Nevada, zone 6b. I bought a small crape myrtle several years ago and planted it in a large pot. I bring it into a sunroom after the first frost, and keep it there until the middle of April. I bring it back outside and within days it is covered in new growth. It doesn't grow a tremendous amount during the summer, but it blooms beautifully from July until frost. Thank you for your video; I was pruning in the fall, now I will wait until spring.
Good information. Thanks for watching
Thank you for the great info! I live in a zone 12b. The Crape Myrtle grows beautifully here, too!☀️
I have a Miss Francis CM tree . Deep red and it's a beauty. Thanks for fertilizer tip.😊
This is the most overall informative video that I have watched concerning Crepe Myrtles, their planting, fertilizing, pruning and pest control. I have two beautiful native trees that are very old and beautiful that I am wanting more profuse blooming on. After watching this video I know what should be done to help this. Can't wait to put info into action and make a beautiful old specimen even more gorgeous. Thank you Jim.
Marian Powell Bb
THANK YOU FOR SPELLING IT CORRECTLY! See my comment above.
I love your videos, short and to the point. You could be a great journalist.
Thanks for the info....I take care of a lot of plants including crepe myrtle at an assisted living facility and your channel is just what I needed...liked, shared, subbed and.....DING!
Thanks for all the great info, I bought 3 black diamond crape myrtles 2 yrs ago this summer, I accidentally mowed one down with my riding mower 😩🤷 I just knew I killed it but I didn't it came back I live in 7 mid-Tennessee I got a few blooms last year I'm looking forward to better blooms this year, these have gorgeous burgundy leaves and red blooms thanks for the info and trimming it up these supposedly get 10 to 12 ft tall
Crepe myrtles are amazingI love them I use them as arrangements and am so happy when they first start blooming. In winter chickadees eat the seeds left on the twigs. Very helpful info, thanks
@Laura Strobel - What colour do you have? I don't know if these would grow for me in Canada, but they are very nice.
@@wflower4709 Medium pink and light pink
@@laurastrobel718 - Thanks for your note. Those would be nice colours!!!
@@wflower4709 your welcome
@@tas5622 They don't. I should have ended the sentence at "start blooming" then "In winter..." I will correct that, thanks
Thank you for this informative video. I'm living w/my widowed father & he just had a huge tree in his yard removed; it blocked the sun so grass wouldn't grow & the roots were encroaching the bottom of the house, but we still want another tree--just not as big. We were debating between a peach tree & a crepe myrtle, I think the latter will win, there are so many lovely varieties. Even though my dad enjoys gardening, he knows very little about these tress & I know even less than he does, so this video helped.
awesome info cheers. loved the season references rather than months as its transferable across hemispheres.
Have some beautiful ones in my family home I grew up with these huge trees in my Childhood home I remember pulling off the dead bark and great climbing trees
Thanks Jim! The Arbor Day Foundation sent us two ( unasked-for) crape myrtle bareroot plants with a membership package of 10 bareroot trees. We live in NW Connecticut, in an area where Zones 5a and 6b alternate in North to South running hills and valleys. So I will probably keep these in two large containers in my mostly- underground storage room through the first winter. After I plant them out (because you wrote below that they aren’t great container plants), I’ll try the straw blanket for winter. And when they die completely, I’ll know it was pointless and try to not take it personally, and remember to say thank you and then throw away Zone-inappropriate plant gifts in the future!
At least the other trees are climate-appropriate!
Great video, you banged it out. Very informative. I live on long island ,and can't kill my crype myrtals. They start to bloom early August . Love the bark too. I guess they keep hybriding new stuff.
Thank you so much, Jim! The video was incredibly helpful.
2 MONTHS AGO SAMS WAS SELLING THESE FOR 9.98 AND I BOUGHT 1 IT IS SO HAPPY IT IS BLOOMING LIKE CRAZY I LOVE IT IT IS DARK RED
Thank you for this very informative and complete video on Crape Myrtles. Trying to grow three dwarf trees on my NYC terrace this year. This video was most helpful.
Ive noticed alot more Crape Myrtles in NYC. They've always been here but they really thrive now, and not just the shrub varieties but full fledged trees. Over the years a lot of the area has gone from zone 6 to zone 7b now and it shows.
@@dtone63 We got hardy dwarf varieties. They are absolutely thriving after being planted in April. I'm hoping they survive the NYC winter so we can enjoy them again. Such a huge amount of color and charm. Thanks again for your great video.
A ton of great information! I'm so thankful! I've been watching some of your older videos like this one and just keep getting a wealth of information. Thank you 😀❣
I have 3 of them in my front yard.. had to get them after driving NC highways very very beautiful scene
Great video. I have had some crepe myrtles (12 feet) for years and they are tough. I just took some cuttings from them and potted them in soil. The cuttings are growing great. I have another property that needs a few CMs. I am in zone 8/9.
WOW that's good to know 😊! Did you have to let roots grow on them before you planted them?
I do not prune them as I have room for them to expand. I am in the mountains of the Zone 7 area and they thrive even in clay base soil and moisture content. Really a miracle organism, I have transplanted some I thought had no chance of survival (very short tap root) and they start to grow. I recommend the lavender (Muskogee), they like full sun all day and love if you water them when they are young.
If you have rabbits, woodchucks, or deer watch out during the winter as they will eat the young crepes down to the ground almost. Wrap the trees with black plastic netting to deter a nasty surprise.
This is really the only great and informative video I´ve found and watched, regarding my Myrtles. Wonderful work. Thank you very much!
Soapy water works great on aphids.
These are invasive in that the roots will send up sprouts in your lawn. Sometimes 15-20 feet from the plant. They also put out a lot of seeds. In 2017 I cut down six and had the stumps ground. Just filled an entire paper bag of sprouts today.
I love how they look - but no longer in my yard.
Yeah, it's a plant.
Great info. Great channel!!!
Thank you Jim for all the great information. I had many questions and your video gave all the information I needed.
I'm a transplant from the north (38 yrs. ago) and planted some Crape Myrtles a few years after I moved here. I have learned to love them more and more. Their bark is so beautiful and the stems make such wonderful patterns. I didn't think they provided anything for wildlife, but when they bloom the smaller birds are all over those branches - must be eating all those aphids and beetles.
I notice that black soot on my Camilla’s as well but not sure I’ve seen the aphids? Gonna use the soapy water anyway and clean them up. Thanks for the info. Love this channel!
Loved this video! I didn’t realize there was so many varieties! I have 2 tall trees. Now I will add some smaller shrubs to my yard for more color!
You are right. I applied fertilizer late summer/ fall and it killed my Muskogee. I replaced it with a healthier one and am just enjoying it this summer.
I am planting two Biloxis soo. Please review on one. Thanks!
thank you very informative. Would have liked more info on care for newly planted tress 15 feet tall.
Your video was extremely helpful thank you for sharing your information.
Here in Western Oregon,they have been known to bloom as late as August and September !
That's when mine bloom in Silverton Oregon
Very helpful! I have a whole line of them that were planted next to the house but are the TREE kind. I'm transplanting them to better places around the yard.
I got a bunch and they are beautiful the only problem they stain the concrete, so make sure they are not close to your patio or driveway. Also they grow everywhere after the seed fall on the ground. I don’t put anything and they look just fine.
Looks like you have a bunch of em. I would suggest some pro's making some bonsai-type. I think they'd be cool and I really think they have some properties that would work well with it. The trunks look REALLY cool when they're older. Almost like they get liquified, a vert flowing look that would really present well.
I was just thinking the same thing ! About Crepes as bonsai.. Is it possible?
Very informative... very thorough! Excellent presentation! Thanks for sharing.
Please post a video on how to permenatly stop the growth of the groundlings/ succor growth at the bottom of the CM trees!! Such a nuisance to keep lopping off week after week. Thanks!!
I bought really dark purple crepe and I have it in a pot. It was so lovely but for some reason half of the branches seemed to die! I was horrified but they seem to have new buds so maybe it will survive.
Thank you so much. Your comments were very informative and helpful. I do wish you would have addressed whether to cut off the seed pods after the first yearly blooming occurs.
in the past 3 years ive planted a good many of them.all have been succesful.they dont seem to be hard to grow.
These grow so well and easily in southern California they bloom till fall
There are in Panama, Central America. I live around 0-10 meters above sea level, we have only rainy season and dry season lasting around 6 months (depending on El Niño or La Niña) and have like 36°C to 30°C.
So yeah, they can pretty well tolerate heat here.
Very informative and helpful as the owner of a new plant.
Very informative video. Thank you.
It's so easy for me to grow them just set them in the ground and they grow
“Myrtle murder” is a common thing Ive heard of but I have one in my front yard I didn’t want the first year (it was winter & I didn’t know what it was) so I chopped it to the stubs. It grew so well that summer. I chopped it again & it looked great the next year. 3rd year now, and it’s growing and getting ready to bloom again.
Ass alb the damage thakkopp,)):t’s caused from doing just that...chopping your tree, and yes, also known as crape murder. These beautiful trees will givebmmm mmm mmm ñ if left primarily alone are a stunning sight!! A Crape Myrtle should have several trunks☺️☺️ and then they grow with a natural shaped umbrella shape and the bark on their bard is
Hi Jim, love your videos. I was wondering if it's alright to trim off some of the lower branches to make a single trunk crepe myrtle. If so, which one do you keep, and which ones do you trim off?
LoL Jim, your favorite plant! 😄
They're good for the bees because they bloom in August when there is little food for them !
I started a bunch of seedlings from seed about 4 months ago. One is already blooming. It only has about 3-4 stems growing horizontally and longest is maybe 5in but has at least 3 flower buds on the end and one fully flowering. The flower is light purple. Never heard of a crape myrtle seedling going from seed to bloom in as little as 4 months. I thought they would take years to mature before they bloomed.
Had a dynamite crepe get covered in aphids this season in wake forest. This was my first season with it and now I've managed to handle it by spraying them off with water and using neem oil slurry. It also had the black sooty mold and it definitely set the tree back hard. This was about a 5ft dynamite so its still young. Also had them on my ebony flames crepes too!
Owen Sands I hate those aphids! They just eat up my roses. It’s a running battle between myself and the aphids - but if I don’t keep fighting, they win. Constant vigilance is the price of freedom, and of keeping your roses alive and blooming!
@@Tina06019 I had the trifecta of pest on my tree this year. Wasp, ants and aphids. Noticed the wasps first. There was at least 50 of them swarming around the tree at dawn. I treated the ants and 2 days later sprayed the tree with water during the day & from a distance. I repeated that the following week and finally got the wasp under control but had to continuously spray the tree with water and spray the base for ants throughout the summer. Any tips you have would be appreciated! ❤
I used an electric pressure washer (lower power than gasoline powered) to blast upward through the canopy to remove aphids from the undersides of the leaves...after repeated unsuccessful efforts with Dawn or insecticides. Yes...it damages the leaves and blows out the dying leaves, but that’s the point. The pressure washer works well to then clean each branch, blossom cluster and trunk of the black sooty mold that results from the “honey dew” sap that the sucking aphids induce. Now I will use dormant oil this fall, prune carefully, and NOT over-fertilize like I did this past Spring. I read that over-fertilizing crepes will foster an aphid onslaught...and I witnessed that first hand.
I have crepe myrtle popping up everywhere in my flower beds from wind borne seeds from the neighbor's trees. Once the roots got established, it's so hard to get rid of them without harming my other plants in the flower beds. Damn.
I thought I killed a dwarf crepe myrtle tree last summer. It really looked dead. This spring it started leafing out. I wish I could post a picture right now. It has an amazing amount of blooms! (I almost threw it away.)
ดอกยี่เข่งมีหลายสีสวยมากๆค่ะ..สีขาวหายากมากๆ
I live in Las Vegas and I have 3 in my backyard. They thrive out here.
Thank you for this info. Just moved into a home with many crape myrtle.
Please either share how best to trim the shubty variety (about 5-6 feet), or share another of your websites that includes that information. Thanks!
This video is very important for me
Hi Jim! I don’t know if you’ll see this question since it’s on such an old video. Hopefully, you will. :). Congrats on the 60K subscribers too!!
I need advise on a crape myrtle for my flower bed. I have 2 corners that are 2 stories tall and full brick. It faces west so the wall will “shade” it from the morning sun which is concerning due to mildew. I would really like the crepe myrtle to be tall (15-20’) so it will soften the massive brick wall. It needs to be vase shape (no wider than 12’) so I can plant it about Bloom color is hot pink or red and fall color preference of red or yellow/orange. I am hoping you can recommend a Crepe Myrtle. I have read about a lot but can’t find a trusted resource.
The last 3 years I have been getting suckers growing from my two 10 yr nanchez myrtles i have beside my house in a landscape bed I mulch every year..I say sucker, but these where around 2-3 feet tall and very full.Last summer in june of 2017 I decided I would try to transplant them along my property line because where they was rooting they looked unsighty.I ended up tranplanting 13 over a two week period last summer..Well fast forward a year today..All of them lived except 1 and all the other 12 are blooming white..It looks nice..They have added alot of growth too..Whats crazy is I have around 10 more in the same areas I dug these up last year.I am gonna transplant those this weekend..I need to start me a crepe myrtle nursery lol
It definitely sounds like it. Good luck with them.
Jim ,I wouldnt eventually would love to stop this on down the road..Could I rub some type of sucker preventer on them after I dig them up?You ever tried anything like that?Any advice??
Thank you very much for the useful tips!! I'm in love with Crape Myrtles!!
Thanks for watching and commenting.
And deer love to chop the leaves and eat the flowers too😩 I have many in my property. I just want to see them grow ☺️
Our tree hasn't bloomed this season. My wife trimmed it last winter and the tree is about 7 years old. We haven't fertilized it but plan to start on a yearly basis.
@Wthrwse thank you. Hopefully the blooms will return also gonna look into fertilizing.
Over-fertilizing makes the aphids even worse!
I used a power washer to blast sooty mold and aphids from the branches and trunks. Tore up the leaves...but they will replace themselves next year.
@@davidjose9808 so after I posted my comment it bloomed. I got nervous because all the other tree's I seen had bloomed.
Great and always useful information. Truly enjoy your channel.
by far my fav plant second is magnolia trees but i struggle with those
Great video..lots of good advice. Thanks for sharing.
I planted some in my backyard a year ago. They grew 3-4 feet earlier this year but they never flowered. I noticed the bark is black as well. Do you know what may have contributed to the blackness and why they did not flower at all this year? Thanks for the help and great videos!
I know this is old, but in case it helps someone else... Sounds like Crape Myrtle Scale. Treat with a systemic that is labeled for scale.
Please talk more about pruning crape Myrtles
I have never heard them call them Crape, I understood it was Crepe
Beautiful flowers.
Very helpful video.Thank You!!
I read them in Zachariah in the bible very informative
I have an older tree, maybe 15-20 years old and is about 10-15 feet tall but never really seems to bloom fully all over and bushy pretty looking . The bark of the tree seems real slick looking. What can I do to make it bloom all over like others I’ve seen
japanese beetles loves them i was fighting them all summer
I live in a neighborhood with a major pavement ant problem just realized there are also a lot of bushy-looking crape myrtles that aren't really maintained.
Very impressive and informative ❤ thank you 🙏🏻 ❤
Great video
Nice video, we love these striking beauties.
As far as aphids go you can also make a tea solution out of can chewing tobacco and spraying the solution on the plant. The nicotine acts as a repellent.
So much good information. Can you tell me which mid-size varieties are best for a front yard, to be planted about 15 to 20 feet from the house. Also, how long does a newly planted tree take to start blooming? Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this info!! I love them!! Evelyn from Colorado
Thanks for watching
very nice and look like bougainvillea
Great video. Unfortunately I saw after I ordered the Black Diamond Crepe Myrtle instead of First Edition. First edition is more in line with size I needed. I love the almost black foliage against the white flowers. Both have this, now what to do with the Black Diamond now it has shipped; guess I will have to order the First Edition to get appropriate size. Will find someone who needs the larger or just keep in a pot to keep small. probably will do the latter. Barbara