ARTY'S GARDEN: Crape Myrtle, a Gold Medal Plant for All Seasons

Originally published in the Aug. 7, 2013, issue

It has been 17 years since Atlanta hosted the Olympics, and I cannot remember any of the star athletes. But I do remember the horticultural star of the games – crape myrtles. They were stunning as they are every summer with their large trusses of crinkled blossoms. In 1996, however, they had a large audience of visitors who had never seen them before.

I remember being in a crowd downtown overhearing a woman from New Jersey asking, “Are those lilacs? They’re beautiful!”

Being the horticultural ambassador that I am, I stepped forward to tell her and her friends about them. A dignitary from Nigeria even came to the garden center where I worked to see if we had crape myrtle seeds he could take back to Africa.

Drought or rainy weather, crape myrtles put on a beautiful floral display every summer. Those without discernment will say their flowers are pink, purple, red or white. But connoisseurs are apt to differentiate between pale pink, watermelon red, rose, plum, mauve, orchid, hot pink and crimson.

If summer flowers were their only virtue, crape myrtles would still be garden stars. They are not just a one-season wonder, however. In the fall their leaves turn yellow, orange and red. Depending on the variety, crape myrtles have smooth, even silky, exfoliating bark that ranges in color from peachy gray to cinnamon and is attractive all year.

Crape myrtles need little except full sun. They will tolerate less but flowering is reduced and the plant is more prone to powdery mildew. Once established, they are drought tolerant. They require no special fertilizer, and really don’t need any fertilizer.

The biggest problem with crape myrtles is not a disease or an insect pest; it is people. Too many people butcher their crape myrtles and call it “pruning.” They try to turn crape myrtle trees into crape myrtle shrubs. If crape myrtles are pruned correctly, you can’t tell they have been pruned. Instead we see maimed crape myrtles with stubs of limbs from which long canes of new growth emerge. These canes are weak and more prone to aphids and powdery mildew. And the overall effect is ugly.

You should prune to enhance the natural shape of the crape myrtle. You do not have to prune them to get them to bloom, and you do not have to massacre them just because your neighbor does. If you need a smaller crape myrtle, plant a dwarf variety. Some of these dwarf selections reach only a few feet tall.

Southerners often bemoan what we cannot grow due to our heat. Many of us daydream of the garden paradises of England and the Pacific Northwest, where the weather is very temperate with abundant rainfall and almost everything thrives. But crape myrtles don’t do well there. It’s not hot enough. One of my best friends moved to Seattle in the 1990s. Besides being homesick for friends and family, he longed to see crape myrtles again. On a trip back to Georgia he told me, “The crape myrtles are taunting me.”

One final thing: is it crepe myrtle or crape myrtle? Actually, either spelling is acceptable. Crape is the dominant spelling in America, although many nursery catalogs and garden writers will describe the “crepe-like flowers” of the crape myrtle.

Go figure.

Arty Schronce is the Department's resident gardening expert. He's a lifelong gardener and a horticulture graduate of North Carolina State University who encourages everyone to discover the pleasures of plants and gardening.