Since they were planted only 2 years ago, yours are most likely still getting established.

Did you see if the original old growth died from heat or other stress durring the first 18 months after your dad planted them? If that happened. the trunks you currently see could be regrowth from the rootball. If yours cultivars were originally grafted, then the rootball might be have produced a different type of CM which does not bloom the color of the cultivars you listed.

Even so, CMs tend to send up new shoots from their rootball even when they have not been stressed. On yours, has all those new shoots been kept pruned away? If not it is very reasonable to wonder if the current blooming shoots you now see, are simply rootstock grown shoots which could be different from any possible grafted cultivars you originally saw blooming.

Hmm... that's all good information to think about. I know that he was real proud of these Crapes when he got them planted, and they seemed the pinnacle of health up until now. Well, you know what I mean. They still look perfectly healthy, if white blooms were what I was going for! I'm not sure if the trees were grafted, I'd imagine they were. That seems like a pretty good option as to what may be happening. At first I thought about the sun or soil fading argument, but from hot pink to white seems a bit much for something that simple. I'm pretty sure the new shoots were not pruned away, so that's a possibility as well. Thanks very much for your response & help, Katrina.

Blooms can also fade with the sun - did the blooms come in this summer as "advertised"/the correct color, and then change over time to the whiter color, or did they bloom as the whiter/lighter color?

I have also seen both 'Dynamite' and 'Red Rocket' throw an occasional pink or white-edged bloom or cluster of blooms, which is seemingly considered "normal" for the cultivar(s), and is more likely to happen early on in the season.

Do you know if your dad did anything differently than what you are doing, as far as cultivation practices - feeding, watering, lawn care, etc.?

My CMs flowered later and not as full than I remember this year - although my memory may also be faulty! The spring was weird, and went into a weirder summer, what with drought again, and extreme early heat, so I am not expecting "normal" flowering from them. While your weather may have been more normal for you this spring/summer, if you got the drought last summer that I did, your CMs may have been under some stress, and if your weather or gardening practices didn't totally relieve the stress, the flowers might reflect that.

As you can see, I have no answers, only ideas of possible reasons.... I would water well, be careful about feeding, and give them another year before getting out the shovel!

The first year the trees did not bloom, however they leafed out fully and still looked gorgeous. The second year, the Pink Velour bloomed shades of warm to hot pink, and the Muskogee a rich, medium lavender. This year, the Pink Velours have bloomed a creamy white, and the Muskogees are sort of this muted shade of lavender.

I know that the trees were probably getting a bit more water when my dad lived here as we is retired and spent his days gardening (he's a former landscaper). I don't really have the free time that he does, but they get watered often enough that they look beautiful! Just... not the right colors :) And I'm using the same fertilizer that he recommended for them.

I definitely plan to keep them where they are, regardless. Still, I miss that bright pink and purple. When we came to visit they were so vibrant, I was really looking forward to having them. Guess I'll just wait and see what happens next year! Thanks for your advice!