Crepe Myrtle Shrubs

I have 4 Crepe Myrtle shrubs along my patio that are in full sun and are irrigated on a regular basis. I did not prune them or fertilize them with excess nitrogen. There dosen't seem to be any fungus or black spot on them. There is new growth and they seem to be very healthy. Last summer (August) there were abundant beautiful red flowers on all the shrubs. It's now Aug. 5 and there is no sign of flower buds. Are there certain CM species that don't bloom every year? What could be wrong?

Did you just plant them last year? I've had times where I bought plants one year and they maybe already had buds starting when I bought them so they bloom that year, but then the following year they don't bloom (had this exact thing happen with 2 crape myrtles at my old house). Many plants will take a little time to really get their roots established before they go back to blooming--there's a rule of thumb that often applies "first year they creep, second year they sleep, third year they leap". Some plants get going a little faster than that, but definitely if these were just planted last year I'd be patient and see what happens next year.

Yep, it's true. Also, different crepes seem to bloom earlier/later than other. A Natchez (pure white) blooms later than others. Some of the deep pinks (Velour) and reds bloom later. Here, ours bloomed later this year so you may have them forming buds now. Keep us posted.

I have one young crepe myrtle that bloomed real well last year but not a single bloom so far this year. In my zone I contribute it to the drought. Even though we have watered it still hasn't bloomed.
Lin

That is very strange. I live in Midway, and crepes that don't get any supplemental water are blooming and have been since June.

Pardon me, the spelling actually is crape myrtle.

I don't think it's the drought, we don't have any summer rain at all out here and they do fine without a ton of supplemental watering.

I have six crape myrtles, different varieties. All of them leafed out in late spring and grew a bit, then just stopped. They didn't grow, didn't die, didn't bloom, didn't drop leaves. They just sat there.

I waited until two full weeks after everyone else's were in full bloom, then hauled out soaker hoses and fertilizer. I first gave them a good, deep drink, then applied Miracle Gro, waited a day, and gave them another deep drink. I then put the soakers on timers, and gave the crapes water every three days. They're all in bloom now, some absolutely covered with blossoms, some (like the Nachez) with only a few flowers.

I plan to wait another week, then repeat the Miracle Gro.

The weather here was very strange this year. We had a late freeze, followed by lots of rain, then month after month of dry and hot weather. I think the crapes just needed a little help to get going.

Dallas Dad, tks for your input. I'll have to check my neighbor's Natchez in the morning.

I had a nursery expert come out to look at the crape myrtles and she discovered a sticky substance on the leaves and told me it was aphids. I forgot her recommendation on how to get rid of them and when to spray.

Anyone familiar with this problem on crape myrtles?

Aphids love crape myrtles--I'd start by hosing off the plant with a strong jet of water to dislodge as many as you can, then once it's dried off a bit they're pretty easy to kill so pretty much any insecticide ought to work. I usually use insecticidal soap, but check the label on whatever you've got around, chances are it'll probably work. The trick with them is you have to keep after them, they multiply at the speed of light, so any few that you miss on the first treatment will rapidly reproduce, so you need to repeat the treatment on a regular basis until you're sure they're under control. And since they love crapes, you may not get them 100% under control--when I've got a plant that they particularly love, what I'll do is just hose it off every few days to keep the population from getting high enough to damage the plant.

A strong spray of water will remove a large number of the aphids. If they persist, a pesticide LABELED FOR USE FOR APHIDS ON CRAPE MYRTLES would be a prudent follow-up. Aphid infestation of these plants is quite common. It won't kill them. Some people spray with a solution of soapy water. If you do treat, be sure to spray the undersides of the leaves.

Having just moved into a new house and being "disabled" w/a bad hip which has since been replaced so still can't get around well, I can look out the windows at the plantings here and was surprised at the way the crapes bloomed or didn't bloom. The old plantings that have been there probably 20 years or so were blooming and not looking particularly pretty because the bloom heads are short and colors are a faded sort of color in pale pink and yuk lavender. The newer whites were blooming and their large bloom heads were gorgeous. We could see that the reds were getting ready to bloom. When they bloomed in August they were truly beautiful. Then we had a rain and the poor things looked quite bedraggled. They came back a couple of weeks later and are so full that the stems holding the flower bend over from the weight. It's wonderful having a succession of blooms so that you always have some flowers. The crapes are too tall to check without a tall ladder but they don't seem to have any insects or fungus such as the old type were so prone to have. I used to hate crapes until I ran into these newer ones.

Ann

Thanks everyone for the helpful info. I'll give it a try.