crepe myrtles in Missouri? are they hardy?

I have purchased several crepe myrtles over the past few years, and none of them come back after the winter. They seem to regrow from the bottom up, with the previous years growth dying. nothing leafs out on any existing branches. I have tried 3 varieties so far. So I am wondering if I should give up or what.

Frilly: From what I know, Crepe Myrtles are mostly a southern plant. I have Crepe Myrtles and I am in Mo. I am in zone 6. Crepe Myrtles are slow to green up in the Spring. Mine have a good start on greening up just this week. I really like mine and do nothing to them.

well do they regrow every year, or does any of the old wood get foliage?
I am about tired of waiting til June every year to see what is dead and what isn't, and then having to whack most of it away and wait til July for the rest to grow. know what I mean...!

The limbs on the old wood get green. Maybe your too far north? I will take a picture of my CM tomorrow. It's too dark out now. Plant files says hardy to zone 7. Mine do just fine though in zone 6.

Well I am 4 hours northeast of Tulsa, they have cm like crazy down there. My bro lived there a few years and he says it is warmer than MO.
Just 4 hours from here, but what a difference it makes! They also have azaleas that are gorgeous. I can barely keep those things alive. Dogwoods are another I have given up on.

Unfortunately the reality of crape myrtles is that while they can be root hardy in zone 6, the top will frequently die back. You really need to be in zone 7 for the upper part to make it through the winter on a regular basis. There are some varieties that are hardier than others so if you get those they may have a better chance, and also as your plants get older and better established you may find that more of the top growth survives and/or they come back a bit quicker in the spring.

well I do wonder if I should let them have a few more years to develop a stronger root system. But then, I don't know if that has anything to do with the TOP dying. Doesn't seem like it would? We had temps this past winter for a couple weeks that were -10 or maybe even a little colder.
My mom's did the same thing. Maybe I should look for a more hardy variety, I didn't realize there was a difference. Any suggestions? I am particularly interested in red or a bluish purple color. I bought a Zuni once, but it didn't come back at all the following spring...

I have many crepe myrtles doing fine in St Louis.
I thought they might behave as die-back shrubs, but the tops have been reliably hardy for me.
I have several plants 10+ years old. They are 10+ feet tall.
They bloom late summer when little else is in bloom.
And I love their beautiful bark coloration.
Here's lagerstroemia 'Townhouse' - it has particularly nice bark.

Edited to say: Don't mind the plastic netting - it's my best attempt at keeping the deer from rubbing the bark / girding the tree.
Another episode of 'Man vs Nature' ...


This message was edited Apr 28, 2010 8:48 PM

This message was edited Apr 28, 2010 8:49 PM

I tried looking that up in Plant Files, it seems there are tons of listing for cm but they all say zone 7-9. I think with temps down at least -10 that would put me in a zone 5?
I think that would be risky.
I have the 'dynamite' right now. It is a beautiful red color, it doesn't have the pinkish hue to it that many reds have, and that is why I wanted it. It blooms late, the first of sept probably for me.

I say, go for it!
I don't know if it's global warming, or whatever.
They do fine here. I have four or five ~10ft tall.
I haven't seen any hardiness problems.
Lebanon is south of us - surely you shouldn't have any more hardiness issues than we do.

I am about 3 hours southwest of St louis, halfway between Rolla and Springfield on I-44.
I just can't get them to come back for me.

I'm not sure why there would be a problem with them, as they really look vigorous here.
They are so tall in my yard, that I can't reach the tops to deadhead the seed capsules from last year's blooms.
I think you should try another one. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be successful.

Here's a picture of my crepe myrtle coming out of dormancy. It was quite windy. I hope it is clear enough.

FrillyLilly should try 'Sarah's Favorite' (a white) and 'Hopi' (a pink). They have shown steadfastness for me here in central KY. Only severe dieback came with -24ºF written on it, in 1994.

My original 'Sarah's Favorite' crape myrtle is easily 15-18' tall now, and I have many more from rooting cuttings of this. I garden in zone 5b/6a.

You may experience worse winter conditions than St. Louis despite being further south, because you don't have the moderating influence of the big rivers (= big heat sinks in winter) and the urban heat island situation out in Lebanon.

If Lebanon is a town at higher elevation, that can also influence temperature extremes.

well I went to the zoo today in St louis, and they had large crepe myrtles all over. I'm jealous!

Anyone know of a deep red variety that would be hardier? the one I have is 'dynamite'. It is coming back, just all new growth and still nothing on the old wood.
I hadn't thought about the rivers. St louis gets more snow than we do. We tend to get more wind and ice here. Just a little south of here, lots of tornadoes it seems. Well we get plenty of those too!

Snow cover is insulation. Wind without cover is dessication. Ice contributes to breakage. St. Louis has a definite advantage for more tender species.

'Tonto' is a red one selected by the US National Arboretum. I'd lean toward that, unless you can find another that has some proven pedigree and track record in the conditions that you experience.

The good thing is that crape myrtles bloom on new wood, whether that is new suckering growth or regrowth on older stems.

I looked up Tonto in PL and it is pink. I am going to keep mine, I guess, I am just disappointed that it will re grow and thus be shaped like a 'bush' each year, and probalby not get large. I was wanting something to grow up into a 'tree' form. But I definitely want deep red, so I guess I am just going to be stuck with that for now at least.
I also seen alot of smoke bushes at the zoo, but I didn't think those would be hardy either? I would love to have a purple smoke bush...

Picky, picky - but I guess fuschia isn't red. 'Tonto' seemed red after all the whites and pinks that I had planted.

The US National Arboretum has quite a bit more info on Crape Myrtles, for those with unquenchable interest.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/graphics/usna/Newintro/USNA_CrapeMyrtlePoster.pdf

And more:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Research/Herbarium/Lagerstroemia/

Looks like 'Arapaho' and 'Cheyenne' are the reddest ones in that batch of introductions.

You should have absolutely no trouble growing Smoke Tree (Cotinus coggygria) or any of the purple/red clones like 'Velvet Cloak' or 'Royal Purple'. They are pretty tough plants.

ok cool, I might try a smoke tree.
Thanks for the links, I'll check them out :)

yeah, I'm picky LOL But I have to be, my yard isn't that big, can't plant every pretty thing that walks by lol

I found that the USNA has a separate fact sheet on 'Arapaho' and 'Cheyenne'.

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/Lagerstroemia_Arapaho_LR.pdf
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/Lagerstroemia_Cheyenne_LR.pdf

Those two look pretty red.

Smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) is hardy here in Mpls, in Zone 4a, so you should have NO trouble growing the plant in your conditions. (:o)

somewhere someone posted a link to a place that sold crepe myrtles. Now I can't find it!
Does anyone know of a place that sells them? I want some place reputable of course.

If you're looking for mail order, www.ecolage.com usually has some (and a good rating in Watchdog). Their prices are high, but the plants you get from them are larger than what you get from many mail order places (or at least they were a few years ago when I last ordered something there)

wow kinda pricey! $60 is kinda too high, I would like to get several, so smaller ones would probably be better. Any other places?

That's the only mail order place I shop regularly where I remembered seeing them--but Plant Scout lists several others http://davesgarden.com/products/ps/search.php?search_text=lagerstroemia&submit=Search

Yeah, I can attest that 'Dynamite' is only root hardy in suburban KCMO.
In the photo, you can see the $19.99 part sticking up, thats dead..lol
But, it had numerous pretty red flowers, unfortunately, its a pretty bush here only.
I think Lowes grows them in Florida or Alabama or somewhere southerly and ships them here in the Summer, where they die significantly after Winter.
Heres mine. -

mine did die back mostly. But I couldn't believe how much it grew back from the roots. It will just be a bush shape, not a tree form I guess. But it did get rather large finally. So I will be keeping it. I found one called Red Rocket, that is supposedly root hardy in colder zones, does anyone have experience w that one?

I moved to Florida from Kansas City, Missouri (zone 5b-6a) - most of my neighbors had them growing in their landscape - they just planted the rootball about a foot down and mounded mulch up around the trunk 6" or so - they leaf out beautifully every spring.