Crapes can be slow to start, particularly after a move. I have moved them both with a ball or bare root, and as tall as 12'. I have 15 different red varities and change my mind all the time. Be patient. I'm eyeing a 'Burgundy Cotton' right now that I want to take to the back yard. I must do it in the next week, or in my location and experience, it'll be too late to do it in a healthy manner. It's about 14' tall. So you did it in the best time. Nice and COLD. I have done it even in the hot weather, which is just stupid, but I have. They lose all their leaves and have to start all over again for the season. Early on, I learned not to stress them so. In January, I dug up and repotted about 32 Japanese Maples. Some had started about 1-3' tall, in small pots. Due to life and grief, some were still in them at 6' or so tall. But it quickly refroze outside and I didn't lose a single one of them, even though some required me to actually cut the pot out of the roots. I won't do that again. I digress. Be patient.

Edgar, I am pretty new to all this myself, just started gardening in earnest this spring. A neighbor wanted to know if I had taken a class in horticulture (Manhattanites in general are easily impressed by anything that grows) ... everything I learned this year, I have learned here on GW! I don't intend to become a rocket scientist about it, so my explanations will be on the simplistic side. Osmocote is a basic all-purpose time release fertilizer ... little pellets that will release the fertilizer over time, as needed. I use it when I plant, and then again about the end of July. I put away the 15 or so fertilizers hubby bought when I first started this, and that is basically all I use. I am all for simple and effective :-) Miracle Gro is a similar product in that it is all-purpose, but you have to apply it more often and you have to figure out when to do it. Bloom Plus is specifically for flowering plants ... as I think I mentioned, I use a weak solution (about 1/4 of what they recommend) every time I water a plant that needs a little encouragement in the flowering department. Since all my gardening is done in containers, I really can't answer your question about the wild-flower seeds. Suggest you make a separate thread here asking that question, and hopefully another local will reply :-) Halfhardy, I am old enough to remember NO TV :-> When I got to watch TV at my grandparents, it was only Howdy Doody I was interested in, not gardening :-D That said, I do appreciate your info and I guess now I will change my plans. I must say I am more comfortable about bringing it in and putting it under my grow lights, since I can better keep an eye on it that way. Thanks for your response.

As NHBabs said, your crApe myrtle appears to have a great future. I'm glad you posted that picture. I was imagining something in much worse shape. If it were me, I would do a couple of things. First, prune the dead stem down to just a little above the highest branching shoot you plan to keep. If all or most of the shoots are coming from below ground level, cut the dead stem at ground level. Second, I would remove the bed liner. It doesn't seem to be serving any real purpose, and it will prevent roots from growing out normally. Such a "weed barrier" is also a barrier to the crApe myrtle's roots. Around future larger trees, it could be a much bigger problem by encouraging future girdling roots.

Well....after looking at more pictures online and talking to my wife, I think we've determined a Natchez variety will be too much for our front yard. The height doesn't worry me so much....it's the wide canopy spread. I'm afraid it will make the ground around it too shaded, and will kill off the Bermuda grass. This happened near our pear tree, and since the ground is already sloping down, it has caused erosion issues. So now I'm steering more towards an upright growing Crape.....I have been looking at Tuscarora or Miami....I am also looking at Sarah's Favorite. It's so hard to tell what information to trust, because if I look at 10 different sites describing the different varieties of Crape Myrtles, none of them will be consistent as far as how tall/wide a tree will get. I had one site say Sarah's Favorite doesn't shed bark, but others say it does. I really had my heart set on a white flowering variety, but it seems like Natchez or Sarah's Favorite are my only choices for the size of tree I want.....I can't seem to find Byer's White anywhere online.