Looks like a great spot to me. But doesn't look like Tuscarora. Have you fertilized the Crape? Bloom booster? Blood meal? (just a little, can burn roots). I see hints of a darker pink...

Tropcialfreak

I liiiike it! I think you put it in a great spot and whether it is Tuscarora, Sioux or Miami, the color is great! I have a very light grey house - it looks like your home is a light color, too - and I think pinks look wonderful against it. I also think the placement is great and will add curb appeal. It is lovely!

I am wondering about the trunks - but I can't see them well in your photo. Is this a standardized crape with a sucker-turned-trunk on the left? Or is it multi-trunked, like most crape myrtles? If the trunk on the left is a sucker, you may wish to remove it and then keep it clean of the suckers that will return at the cut base. It will just give it better form. If it is a multi-trunked tree, ignore that suggestion.

Below are pictures of the blooms on one of my Tuscaroras in the back yard. I wish the angle and lighting were better - the tree is so high now, there aren't any blooms in easy picture distance:

Below are photos of my crape myrtles 'Miami'. I planted three trees on each front corner of the house:

Carol

Thanks for the input Love The Yard. That is encouraging. Your Tuscorora is the color I was looking for. I don't know why, but mine seems more faded, so I was wondering if it is really a Tuscorora. I think it is two suckers turned trunks, but I would like to keep it and make it multi-trunked. Would that not turn out right? I was aiming for multi-trunked but maybe those are suckers.

I was wondering if I should make the bed bigger and move it over to the left so that it shades the dining room window as it grows. However, then I think it would be unbalanced looking. Not sure.

I like the color of your faded pink myrtle with your house. It looks great and just a bit different than you always see the pinks. It gives the yard a nice soft tone. That's my opinion, but what the heck do I know.

Lou

Am I supposed to fertilize it? I just planted it two days ago.

I think the flowers look deeper colored in the AM than the afternoon, but still not sure if its the type I thought I bought.

If those are suckers turned into trunks will that look different as it ages than a multi-trunk not from suckers? I wanted multi-trunks.
Not much was available here.

The more I look at it, the more it looks like the color of Sioux. To be honest, if I could do it over, I would trade my Miami's for Siouxs - I like the Sioux better. So I think you did very well - even if it was not what you had originally intended. (And I bought Miami on purpose, too!)

If you could, I would like to see some more photos of the trunk from a couple of different angles before voting on prune/not prune.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Google Images of Crape Myrtle Sioux

Don't fertilize unless it is something like a very weak mix of fish emulsion. Don't get out the 10-10-10 or anything. It needs time to get established and you don't want to burn the new roots. Plain ol' frequent watering is what is needed right now.

Regarding trunks, need more photos to determine. If you have a single straight central trunk holding 75% or more of the foliage, and two smaller trunks, less than half the size of the main trunk and holding 25% or less of the foliage, I would probably vote to remove them. It will not look right.

Going only by the photo above, I would lean toward removing the suckers. By the way, standardized crape myrtles are great, special (not as common), and cost more. Nothing wrong with that at all!

Carol

Here is the trunk. It was being air layered by the grower before I got it.

The color is deeper in the am shade. I was hoping for multi trunk but let me know if you think I should make it a standard. Do you think I have room for it anywhere else on my lawn if I want a different one in this spot? Or am I a single crape myrtle person?

Sioux is a nice color... haven't seen one in person.

Tropicalfreak

When I asking about fertilizing I meant to share that my sister had the same problem when I sent her a couple Tuscarora. The first year they bloomed they were pale. She hadn't fertilized them and had moved them a couple times. The second year they bloomed the dark pink.

Tropicalfreak

Okay, any votes on pruning?

Yes, both trunks had air-layering attempts. So you are saying if I leave them the tree will not grow into a nice shape.

Interesting about the flowers. Today they are deeper in color. I think that they must come out light pink and then deepen in color after that.

I'm really happy that I'm growing a tree.

Honestly, most people will not notice the difference. Folks who are into plants/gardening/landscape and know the proper pruning of trees are the only ones who might notice.

In the end, you should do whatever you like. It is your yard and tree and it should make you happy! (Neither choice will affect the health of your tree.) I love my yard and plants - they are my great escape. I often ask for advice on the forum and usually take it, but not always.

I'm usually a stickler for doing it the "right" way. So what exactly is multi-trunked vs. a sucker forming a trunk? What is the difference as the tree grows up?

We lived in Sacramento and there I was used to mostly standards. When I moved to Florida I noticed that besides the usual Crape Murder, they are putting several seeds in one bucket and crowding several plants together and calling it multi-trunked. So I'm not sure I am really seeing true multi trunks here. I am very curious about this and what is the correct way to do it. I see a lot of not good looking Crapes here.

My across the street neighbor loves the new tree and thinks it would look good as a standard. Tell me more please! I would like to learn more about the subject.

I'm also wondering why there are a lot of parasitic prickery growths on some of the Crape Myrtles in Florida. I saw that at a nursery this weekend.

If this one is pruned to a standard, how high will the lower branches be?

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg266

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep399

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st348

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st342

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/trees/crapemyrtle/crape_myrtle_varieties.html

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/trees/crape.html

http://www.wilsonbrosonline.com/Plants/Plant-Files/Trees/Crape-Myrtle-Trees.aspx

http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/trees/hgic1009.html

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/hort/landscape/crapemyrtle2.htm#Table

http://www.usna.usda.gov/PhotoGallery/CrapemyrtleGallery/CrapeTable.html

Thanks for those! I just looked them all over. So I think from reading them that it is better to keep this one as a standard. I also see that some people think that you don't need to prune at all, and some think that you need to take away crossing branches and ones some shoots that are growing into the center.

I am guessing that if I only remove the bottom branches as it grows up that it will take on a vase shape by itself as it grows. What do you think?

I am a bit concerned because one site said it is good in zone 7-9a, and I am in Clearwater and I think I am 9b. Do you think this will be a problem in cold years?

Your crape will be fine in the winter. Zone 9b is warmer than zones 7-9a. Crapes can be found from Virginia to Key West.

Ah, thanks.

So if I want to make it a standard, when should I cut the two sucker "trunks" off?
Do I need to wait until it it dormant?