It's impossible to say what cultivar you have with just that picture, but the bloom color doesn't look nearly as red as 'Dynamite' typically appears. Sun exposure, soil conditions, and other factors can affect a crape myrtle's bloom color though. The form also doesn't look all that dynamite (attempt at funny pun). Has someone been limbing it up or something?

Definitely NOT dynamite. Otherwise, google "pink crepe myrtle" and a few dozen should pop up. Pink Velour would be an "off the top of my head" guess.

Also, here is a link to get you started

Here is a link that might be useful: list of some pink crepe myrtles

Thanks! I don't know if limbs have been messed with,it was planted this spring. I really just started learning about gardening after the fact. So I'm thinking Tuscarora or Sioux after googling it. I hope it's the former, it would be awesome to have great bark on it. Right now it's about 10 feet at the tip and looks young to me.

It has either been heavily pruned (you would know by looking closely at the trunk) or has been growing in crowded conditions at the nursery (this would be my guess).

It does appear that it is trying to "fill in" some. I would consider chopping it off at ground level this fall and starting from scratch. It should grow rapidly from the ground up and would allow you to train it or leave it in a natural shape. It just looks bony to me as is. Your plant, you do what YOU want with it! Welcome to GW. There are many great folks here that can help you out with any questions you might have in the future.

Good luck with her!

John

I like that idea John. I tend to prefer natural from reading and if it's a Tuscarora that would be awesome. My concern is as a novice, if I trim it way down, is there higher likelihood for me to kill it?

Thanks for the welcome! I'm really enjoying my garden and trees this year. This fall I want to plant a crepe Myrtle with the real nice bark as it gets older in the back. It's overwhelming at times, but I love it now!

It doesn't even look like one of the hybrids to me, but a seedling. Seedlings are usually labeled as "pink crape myrtle" (or whatever color) rather than the hybrid name. Unscrupulous nurseries might label a seedling as a hybrid.

If you want to have a crape to admire for its winter form and bark, I strongly suggest that you visit your nurseries to pick one out that was born with a good 'skeleton' in the first place. Pruning way down is one sure fire way to ruin their appearance in one fell swoop.

Attached in a good fact sheet with two perfect pictures: one of a properly pruned crape and the other illustrating what happens when they're topped.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here

It can become very addicting! You might find as your gardening enjoyment intensifies you are only limited by the amount of space you have. If space isn't a limiting factor, I hope you are wealthy! ;-)

If Tuscarora is what you really want, consider moving this crepe in the fall and planting a Tuscarora in its spot.

As far as cutting them, just at the ground level is fine. You can always add mulch to cover up anything unpleasing to your eyes around the base if it ends up looking stubby after trimming them down. You won't kill a crepe without real PURPOSE behind your actions. I left 2 crepes I dug out of the flowerbed (thought they were dead, but had just been killed to the ground from winter cold) and left them in a burn pile of brush for around 2 weeks. Now, we did have some rain during that period BUT it never crossed my mind they were still alive. Sure enough when I went to burn the brush, they both had put out around 10 shoots from the rootball about 1' in length. I then planted them in the yard and they have grown between 2-3' and flowered normally. There are also several suckers coming up from the severed roots from digging in the flowerbed. It was a pink variety, too. Tough As Nails.

John

After reading rhizo's post, let me clarify if I didn't make it clear - I mean cut it flush to the ground, not 3 feet above ground leaving a porcupine with a buzzcut appearance on the tree. Trimming them this way is very unattractive when they are leafless.

..... my first triple post.... anyways....

You can attain a form like the first pic in the link rhizo posted by pruning to the ground, starting over, leaving the shoots on the periphery to grow and trimming out the suckers that come up in the middle. I almost bet that is exactly what happened with that tree.

Rhizo you may be right, the features don't seem to match exactly on anything (yet). They most definitely called it a dynamite, but since I've gotten into gardening, thats not what I want now anyway.

John, now I'm thinking doing just that, get a great bark tree out front, plant this anew on the side or back. There are 3 great crepes outside my office, all big, unadulterated with beautiful bark year round.

If you decide to "restart" the growth on your crApe, cutting the trunks to ground level, as suggested, usually works very well. Especially if you do it at the right time of year (late winter/early spring, before sap rise), chances of killing a crApe are nearly nil. You will have to (or at least you will probably want to) come back on a regular basis and remove excess sprouts. I usually prefer crApes with 3 to 5 trunks, although I have seen larger specimens with many more trunks that looked very attractive. When removing the excess shoots, it's advantageous to remove them by pulling them off the roots/stumps, rather than cutting them off with pruners. There will be regrowth either way, but pulling lessens the regrowth potential to some degree. You will have to do this on a regular basis for a few years, but eventually the plant will calm down and produce fewer sprouts.

"... "restart" the growth on your crApe"

Why you gotta bring trees into this discussion, brandon? I thought we were talkin' bout how to propertly cut up breakfast treats?

Thanks Brandon! You all are great.

Brandon, I have a Natchez that is about four years old. It keeps sprouting at the bottom and I keep pruning those off but they relentlessly come back. Reading your post above, should I just try to dig out the shoots?

J0nd03, After much thought, the meaning of your last post still remains a complete mystery to me.
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Northtexas, Some crapes (some cultivars much more than others) will continue to send up sprouts even with age. BUT, when crapes are coppiced, they send up a massive amount of sprouts. This vigorous regrowth will gradually lessen as the replacement trunks are developed and the plant comes back into balance.

As for digging out the shoots, I don't do that. If a shoot that needs to be removed is too large to pull or pop off*, I would just cut it to the ground.

* I wasn't sure of what word to use here. One way to remove shoots that are too large to just grab and yank, is to use a weeding tool or similar object and apply pressure right at the base of the shoot. Shoot, two or three times as large as the ones that I can easily pull or yank off, break off pretty easily and neatly with this method.

Brandon -

Well I know the joke was a bad one when I have to explain it... a "crepe" as the OP and I were incorrectly using for "crApe" until you corrected us is "... a type of very thin pancake, usually made from wheat flour" - hence the breakfast comment. I have a head cold, otherwise I assert I would have caught the misspelling in the beginning. I will try harder with the jokes next time... which may make them worse...

Here is a link that might be useful: wiki crepe

Sometimes I'm just slow. I get it now. I just never considered that meaning of crepe.

My guess is Raspberry Sundae or a Tonto. I have both. It is not a Sioux - their flowers are a light pink. I will post pictures later if I get a chance to snap a picture. Sioux and Tontos both shed their bark.

Do Tontos really get that big? I'd love for it to be a Tonto. It's blooming like crazy since those pics too, a lot less sickly looking!