Bright Red Crape Myrtles

Does anyone have any small Bright Red Crape Myrtles to trade?? They are nearly impossible to get in Central Fla. Thanks Fran

Thats a bit ironic. I thought all the tropicals and semi-tropical plants were grown in Fla. and shipped everywhere else, to die after Winter. I bet if you took a drive to a regional Lowes you could find some Crepe Myrtles.
I bought 3 from a Lowes here (2 white 'Acoma's and a red 'Dynamite'). I'll be surprised if they make it thru the Winter. I have the receipts ready for a full refund on them all. I'm hoping for good results from them, they are planted on the South side of my mobile home.
They even sold me a Red-Tipped Photinia which I planted along-side the Crepes, I have the receipt to it too.

Lowes will sell you anything, and I guess hope you don't dig it up, have the receipt, and go back for a refund. Last year I bought 6 Musa 'basjoo' bananas from Lowes. Needless to say, I returned them all the following Spring for a refund, they were all dead, they made for a nice $50 bill on the refund though.
They didn't have the 'basjoo's again this year. I was going to try some in a protected spot and see how the Fla. provenance 'basjoo's would do there. The reason I know they came from Fla. was an employee at Lowes, in charge of shipping, said to me when I asked their provenance (where they came from). I hope I didn't single-handedly discourage their sale of basjoos this year because I returned 6 dead ones last year!
Will

Shortleaf, if you ever see any plants for sale with the popular "E*core" or "Flowerw*od" name, it comes from a nursery 50 miles south of me in zone 8b. I know they ship them nationwide to Lowes, HD, Target, and Wal-Mart. I can't imagine how they would survive up north either.

Sendonetome, I know what you mean about the red varieties. There are crape myrtles everywhere here but it's always the most common ones like Natchez,Acoma, and Sioux. Type in the keyword "crape myrtle" and then "Dynamite" or "Red Rocket" in your search bar and you might find some online nurseries that have them.

This place has Dynamite and Red Rocket for sale : www.ValleyGrow.com

I've noticed 'Dynamite' is becoming popular to sell in the Kansas City area in recent years and it appears to do alright in Eastern KS. Mine has brick red flowers, with no hint of pink. I think since it's such a new variety(introduced in 1997 I think) that it might just be slow to become available for you in Florida, but it shouldn't be long, since it's made it up here to Kansas already! Like shortleaf said, 'Dynamite' is being sold at Lowes and Home Depot here in Eastern KS(and in Eastern KC near shortleaf) already and it's a nice true red. I've also seen some 'Red Rocket' being sold at some nurseries in KC, so I think it shouldn't be hard to find somewhere near you in Florida.(maybe just have to keep trying more places or sometimes nurseries get new things in at different times of year) Either way, I hope you find some and if you don't there are plenty of mail-order places selling these, like: forestfarm http://www.forestfarm.com/ or Nurseries Caroliniana http://www.nurcar.com/order/html/orderingInfo.htm .

Also, it's interesting that shortleaf had such horrible experience with his Basjoo Bananas (Musa basjoo) since it was someone(who were friends of a famous garden writer apparently) growing them for many year in Lees Summit, MO(not far from shortleaf) that the famous friend wrote about and supposedly began their popularity in cold climates. Also, I've been growing a couple of Basjoo's outside here in Eastern KS without problem for 3 winters now and a landscaper who lives just down the road from me has a row of huge Basjoo's(the biggest about 12' tall or so) that were planted about 5 years ago. So, perhaps you didn't get "real" Basjoo Bananas(I've seen some hardware stores selling some sort of tropical ornamental Banana as Basjoo in the KC area), or just had very bad luck. In either case if you try them again, I would try growing them to 3' or 4' in a pot indoors before you plant them outside, and then don't forget to cut them down and heavily mulch them(at least 4" of mulch) when their top growth is killed by frost. Also, I know of many Crape Myrtles in the KC area which are quite old. I even know of a row of them in Ottawa, KS which were planted in about 1950 and are still growing fine to this day. I've also been growing several cultivars for about 14 years here and have only had dieback on them in 1 winter. I think I even read in the plant files about someone in Lees Summit, MO or some other city on the East side of KC(again near to shortleaf) growing Crape Myrtles for 35 years. So, I think you should have good luck with them shortleaf, but I would say you might have some dieback. If I recall your new home is in a more open semi-rural area, which probably doesn't have as much wind protection and could get a few degrees colder than places in the suburban/urban heat island of KC. Also, I would like to point out that the 1 year I had some die back on some of my Crape Myrtles, that some of them didn't leaf out and begin growing until July of that year! Even in a "normal" year for me, they don't usually leaf out until mid May or so. So, be patient if you don't see growth immediately in the spring and good luck on all of your new plantings!

Fran.... Do you think some unrooted cuttings would live if I sent some to ya ? If not if ya have a bit of patience and not in a big rush, I can root some for ya and send it on down when it rooted well. I have no idea of the name of this red but have a friend with one that is the brightest red I have ever seen . If your interested, DM me and well work out the best way to get some to ya.

I've not had any luck with growing Crape Myrtles from cuttings. Several years ago I had a friend give me a couple of dozen cuttings. The ONLY ones that survived were the ones that she took from the rot that had some root attached. Out of about 24 plants, only the three with existing roots survived. someone else might have different results, though.

Bama Belle... Maybe somebody else has a better way, but take your cuttings just a couple of inches long. Strip off bottom set of leaves and cut the top set leaves in half. Put in a Fafard medium mix and eithe r put under a mist system or put large baggy over them to keep em moist.

I used to not be able to to root them and I found out I was letting the cuttings get to dry. If I out somewhere getting cuttings I carry a cooler with ice water in it and put the cuttings in a baggy and then in the chest to keep em cool til I can get back home to plant.

I just bought 2 Red 'Dynamite' off of ebay very reasonable and when they turned their fall leaf color was a pretty red/maroon...you might want to check there..:-) the guy has very good ratings and I've bought several jap. maples from him also..I think it's jherter...

Thank YOu Starlight and I will try that if I can get hold of some red ones. Fran
I suppose that works with other plants also. Fran












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