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Dynamite crape myrtle blooming pink

14 years ago

I planted two 3 foot dynamite crape myrtles in the spring. They first bloomed the red color that they are supposed to and both were really pretty. Since it has been about 102 degrees here, it did become a little dry - they are in full sun and about 100 feet apart. Now both of them are blooming a medium pink color. I have a third that was bought at the same time and is still in the pot. It did not dry out since I water it daily and it is blooming like a dynamite should. I cannot believe that these 2 plants drying out a little would cause them to bloom pink. Does anyone have experience with this happening. I am hoping that they will revert to red. Help, anyone????

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Comments (4)

randjj1_yahoo_com
13 years ago
No help, but we planted 2 dynamites and they are doing the same thing.
katrina1
13 years ago
Water your stressed Dynamites more regularly at least until their roots have developed better and the shrubs have become better established.

My Dynamites have never changed to a pink bloom color, they stayed their normal red bloom color even during their establishment period, But I did not plant mine in hottest part of the summer months. Instead I planted mine later in the early fall period, which gave their root systems a better chance to become established both prior to that upcoming winter's coldest months and for them to have a good long early spring to emerge out of dormancy in a strong state, and for them to be more capable, without too much stress, handle better this year's excessive summer heat periods.

Only problem I have encountered with one of mine is that early in the summer of this year we received frequent rains longer into the year than expected. So my Dynamites once they had first fully bloomed became so weighted down with the rain they collected that it made their slender trunks bend over and hang to the ground. On one bush, one of it's slender trunks, now from its base, lays completely over on the ground.

Once those heavy blooms dried out all the other bending over trunks have regained their vetical growth. All except that one which is still laying completly on the ground. Earlier I thought that it would die, so I simply ignored it. It has been that way for a full month, and now after it first suffered that damage for so long, it is still blooming and it's leaves have not browned.

Guess I need to prune the slener downed trunk away now, at ground level.
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I know this is an old post, but I'm sure others will find it like I did. I have three Dynamite crape myrtles all bought at different stores but all planted about 6 to 8 years ago. I've had the same exact experience with them just never growing much higher than 10 ft so far. None of them have lived up to expectations as far as size. The flowers are beautiful and I get comments all the time but how great it is from people walking by but definitely not what was intended or advertised. I frankly had wondered if the first one planted was actually its first cousin, the red rocket, because while it has all the traits of a dynamite, super red white specks when cloudy, it's growing more straight than roundish, like the red rocket was supposed to. But the two that I planted in the backyard are pretty much doing the same thing. I would doubt three different growers ripped me off but who knows? I live in Maryland, so my weather is similar to the OP. Maybe that has something to do with it, but I'm curious if people in other places had better luck with these. So far these things have turned out to be really big bushes rather than trees.
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Did they look like this? If so, what happened with the blooming? I bought two red dynamites and one is blooming a pinkish red (very disappointing) that I hope will get a deeper shade of red in the next couple of years. My other one has a lot of partially opened flower buds that are white and kind of in stasis. That is, they have been like this for a week or so. Is this normal? I'm sorry if it is in your pics, they don't show up for me :( Oh and btw, it has been HOT (hottest June on record here) and sunny the last month and a half to two months. By jp_42_82 at 2011-06-28
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Siren Red is nice too, but a smaller tree than Dynamite- Monrovia's site says Red Rocket only gets to 6-12 feet tall and 5 feet wide- that could be a good choice depending on the size you're looking for, but I really needed something bigger (I wanted something that would provide some nice shade and at an eventual 15-20' tall, 10-15' wide, Dynamite was a better choice for me). I considered Red Rocket too, but that variety seems even harder to find than Dynamite in my area (no one I talked to had ever seen it), and the difference between the 2 seems pretty minimal to me. Anyway, I planted my Dynamite today, so we'll see how it goes. I'm starting to think the guy at Armstrong that said all that stuff in my first post may have been confused or something.
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In our PNW climate, crape myrtles seldom reach tree-like proportions. They are most often seen as multi-stemmed shrubs in the 10-15' height range, although the spread of a mature one can achieve 15'. Look for them locally - they will be selections that will perform well in our less than steamy summers, a situation they prefer. Flowering is also not always reliable in many cases, for the same reason. They need a good, sunny, reflected heat location to bloom dependably. For spacing, divide the estimated mature spread in half - a shrub or tree with a 15' wide canopy will extend approximately 7.5 feet away from the trunk or main stems in all directions. But plants also seldom grow in precise circles, so plan accordingly :-)
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josette93
Original Author
13 years ago
Julie,
This year they are back to being red (or really a very dark pinky red). I know that the dynamite continues to become more and more red for several years after it begins blooming, so it is on track now. Yours probably will be next year too. I asked a few people at A&M horticulture research center and they had no idea why it was red, then pink - so we may never know. Just hope both of ours straighten out. Good luck.
randjj1_yahoo_com
13 years ago
Thanks Magicnificent,
That's really encouraging to hear.

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