POSTED BY KIM — Isn’t it inspiring? Don’t you just want to get out a blanket and have a picnic underneath its awesomeness? Right next to those weeds?
Seriously, this *is* my crape myrtle, and it *is* alive. This time of year, we get tons of phone calls from people concerned about their dead crape myrtles, and we always say, “Don’t throw them out yet! They’re probably still waking up.” Some varieties leaf up earlier than others, but many crape myrtles stay dormant (read: “Looks dead as a doornail”) until mid- to late-May. Frustrating, I know.
This is what I have to look forward to.
To confuse matters further, if you have different cultivars of crape myrtle in your yard, some might be greening up while others still look dead dead dead. Not to worry — they wake up at different times, so there’s still a very good chance that your crape myrtle is just fine.
If you’re still concerned, take your thumb nail and score the bark slightly at the base of the trunk. You should see some green. It’s not enough to start breaking twigs, because most crape myrtles will experience some tip die-back. That’s not an indication that your tree or shrub is dead — you’ve got to check for signs of life at the base.
I planted my crape myrtle late last summer. The variety is ’Dynamite,’ and it’s expected to get 10′-15′ tall when mature, with fantastic fall color and beautiful, ornamental bark.
I’ll just have to wait a while for that picnic…
8 Comments
May 18, 2009 at 9:41 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this information! I was about to scrap my sorry little zuni crepe and replace it with a dogwood. I still may move it to a sunnier location, though; it didn’t flower last year. Can crepe myrtles be easily moved, or should I not risk it?
Tina
May 20, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Thank you – we have several crepe myrtle plants that are greening up and budding out. A few others – look dead or only have some green growth coming out. But it has been a cool spring and we’re in Missouri – we’ll wait before replacing them They are gorgeous and worth waiting for!
June 7, 2009 at 10:17 am
Wow, it looks just like our crepe myrtle, but now its a month later and we’re still waiting for it to bud out. It’s been rainy and grey, and now that the trees have leaves, it only gets sun a little more than half a day. I guess we’ll just keep waiting.
June 7, 2009 at 9:43 pm
I will tell you my crepe myrtle story…I have two of these plants I bought last year in the Fall (a Razzle Dazzle and Siren Red). I planted, mulched, watered and checked on them during the winter months. As Spring arrived, I thought they were dead. I left them where they were but after the weather warmed up I was convinced that they were gone and pulled them right out of the ground and put them in the compost heap. Last week, I was getting ready to turn the compost when I noticed that the crepe myrtles were putting out shoots. I was so excited! I immediately replanted them and they are doing fantastic.
June 12, 2009 at 7:37 am
Here in the Houston area, the crapes are beautiful! I wrote about them in my blog complete with photos (http://susansternberg.wordpress.com). Love your photo of what’s to come; I’ve never seen that color crape in our neck of the woods.
June 20, 2009 at 9:38 am
did the ol beauty finally leaf out? If so post an updated pic. I have 3 dynamites that just now fully leafed…and its almost July!
August 18, 2009 at 10:06 pm
I just planted 3 new Crapes 2 weeks ago. 1 of them looked awful the day after I purchased it, and that is the day I put it in the ground. It has gotten worse and worse, it actually looks like your first picture up there now, almost all the leaves have fallen off. The other 2 are hanging in there, the leaves are wilting slightly but I am watering them daily. Do you think the first one is going to make it? It is alot of red clay here in the SC area, but I mixed it with some potting material and mushroom compost.
September 5, 2009 at 10:20 am
Barry, we’re posting this well late, and it’s possible your crapes have succumbed to the elements. Your plants need to be in well-amended soil and NOT watered daily. Keep newly planted plants moist for the first couple of weeks and then let them dry out a bit so they get about an inch of water a week. Good luck.