Lagerstroemia indica, Crapemyrtle is a favorite large shrub or small tree in the southern garden. With the diverse number of cultivars ranging in flower colors and disease resistance crapemyrtles easily adapt to most home gardens. The Wilson Display Garden has several different crapemyrtles for your viewing pleasure. The Wilson Display Garden is located at 1806 S. Goldsboro Street and is open from dawn until dusk.

Crapemyrtles are a favorite plant of mine because they have four seasons of interest. In the spring they have dark green, lustrous leaves. In the summer their flowers panicles reach 8 inches long and 5 inches wide in a range of colors. In the fall the leaves turn yellow, orange and red, and in the winter the smooth, gray exfoliating bark is handsome.

Crapemyrtles range in size from 15 to 45 feet in height. (They are also some dwarf and creeping cultivars.) So make sure to pick a location that will accommodate a plant of this size. Crapemyrtles are typically grown with multi-stems and may be why many people considered them a shrub verses a tree. A new trend is single stemmed crapemyrtles. I saw several single stemmed 'Natchez' crapemyrtles at the Sandhills Community College Arboretum. They truly were outstanding.

Crapemyrtles flower from June through September. Here at the Ag. Center 'Natchez' is in full bloom now whereas 'Dallas Rad' is just beginning to flower. Some of the early flowering crapemyrtles can be repeat bloomers if you dead head the spent flowers in late June - early July. I have written what it seems like hundreds of articles on "crape murder", the pruning massacre I see around town. Here is a good rule of thumb, never prune a crapemyrtle stem larger than your little finger. Of course there are exceptions like dead or damaged wood. Prune any suckers from the base of crapemyrtles by August.

Crapemyrtles prefer a moist well-drained soil in full sun. They can be purchased container grown or balled and burlapped.

Diseases and insects are problems for this plant. Powdery mildew is being seen now. This disease looks like a white powder on the leaves and flowers. Typically you will want to spray your plant if the tree is small enough since powdery mildew can disformed the flower buds. When purchasing a crapemyrtle buy a powdery mildew resistant variety. Black spot, sooty mold, root rot, canker, tip blight, and leaf spot are other possible diseases. Japanese beetles love to chomp crapemyrtle flowers and aphids, Asian ambrosia beetles, and Florida wax scales can cause problems.

Crapemyrtles hardiness zone is from 7 to 9. We are in hardiness zone 7. Although crapemyrtles grow north of here, they can be killed back to the ground during harsh winters. Crapemyrtles look good in the landscape planted as a specimen or in groups and look especially attractive under planted with a dark green groundcover.

Flower colors range from white, pink, orchid, to dark red. To see a listing of the diversity of crapemyrtles consult Michael Dirr's book Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. Byers nursery has a small book for sale with colored pictures, order forms are available from the Ag. Center.

Come visit the garden! Gardening questions can be answered on Mondays and Fridays from 1 until 3 PM by calling 237-0113.

Date Created: 12/05/00.

Updated: 8/25/03