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Florida Gardening

Question about dwarf crepe myrtle

15 years ago

I bought a dwarf crepe myrtle last year, and I noticed lately 2 very small plants starting to growing near it. The leaves seem to be that of the crepe myrtle. Being new to owning this plant..can anyone tell me how this plant reproduces itself? Are these young ones growing near it?

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Comments (6)

vaodiva
15 years ago
Crapes do send out suckers. Half the small trees I have I got by separating them from mom!
gatormomx2
15 years ago
If any of the branches accidently break off , you can also root these .
I have had fair luck with this method .
Better than throwing parts away and good for future trades .
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I have a double row of crape myrtles planted across my property, Tontos. Last spring there was about a foot or more die back in the tops of all of them. They have been in for seven years. This was the first time there has been die back. Tontos are a shrub variety growing about 8-12 feet depending on how far south you are. The Tuscaroras and Natchez row did not have the die back. These are the tree types. I believe the reason had nothing to do with the variety, but rather lack of moisture the previous fall of 2005 and drought in the early part of 2006. The tontos are planted on a ridge which tends to dry out more than the ones on the side of my property. I beieve there is no typical winter die back. I am farther north than you are and other than that caused by the drought, I have had no winter die back in seven years. I have 175 crape myrtles on my property. I simply cut out the winter die back. At first, I decided to leave it, thinking the newer, lower growth would hide the die back, but decided that the die would be unsightly and could leave a way for insects and disease to attack the crape myrtles. One last thought, have you given them time to completely come out yet, we have had unusual cold weather at times this year. I have no sign of life on mine. Last year they were coming out about now. Trees and shrubs will start to green up lower on the stems before greening up at the tops. Of course, you can snap or thumb nail scrap the stems to see if there is any green.
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texasredhead,i really don't know what kind of crepe myrtles i have to be honest...i bought them from home depot and all the tags said was "red crepe myrtle",i have 3 so far that are in late bloom i guess since they were bought about a month ago those are red,i have another that appears to white with tinges of pink,so apparently the tags were wrong,but i did pay for them and would like to see them grow,if you would follow my link to photobucket you would see where i have questioned what kinds of crepes i really bought as i left the tag on it,...i also bought some from lowes and were also the wrong colors..i was just concered that they had that black mold and was wondering if anyone could tell and also some type of bug all over which i mentioned in my first post...i also had to trm some of the branches as they were broken...thanks anyhow
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Comments (10)
The bushy crepes with too many stems could be from winter kill, or the owner may simply be chopping them down every year. With patience, a bush like this could be slowly transformed into a large sculptural crepe. Simply choose 5-7 of the best stems and cut the rest out. Keep on clipping every late spring any other sprouts. Don't be tempted to use roundup, or you will kill the whole tree. As they grow, cut out crossing branches. There are some weeping varieties. Also, crew cut pruning will result in rapid growth from the cut. This new growth will be weak, and weep when the large flower heads start to bloom. Crepe Murder is the name for this type of pruning. This can be corrected if the pruning points are not contorted knuckles from repeated pruning in the same place. This late winter, select one or two branches coming from the old prune wound. The selected ones should be the strongest, and growing in the same general direction as the base branch. Cut out all of the many other branches growing from the prune wound. This will look odd for a year or so, but your tree will recover and resume growing the way God(dess) designed. The flower stalks die completely every winter. You can prune out any spent seed heads in late winter. If the tree is too tall, you can just leave them alone and they will fall off as the new growth begins. Crepes are about the last plant to sprout in the spring along with pecans. I used to get a ladder out and do lots of snipping every February. Now, I don't bother with this, just do some occasional limbing up, and looking for crossing branches.
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Comments (4)
My experience with crape myrtles, and I have and have had many, is that they grow taller than the plant tags say. I have a Centennial Spirit (nice red by the way) that the tag said 8-12 feet when I bought it 4 years ago, and now I'm hearing much taller on this one too. It's at 12' now and only 4 years old. Part of the issue is they come out with new varieties and don't wait the 10-15 years to measure ultimate height, so they "guess". Also, growing conditions can make a difference too. It's really maddening when we get chastised for planting crapes that get to tall for their space, and I want to chastise the growers/nurseries for putting inaccurate data on the tag.
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sapphiregirl
Original Author
15 years ago
Wow, that's amazing! Never knew you could seperate it from the mother plant, nor did I know you could keep a cutting from it and root it..another question, if a piece falls off or I need to prune it, how do you go about "rooting" it? I also have a dwarf allamanda, and a month ago, a branch grew to close to the fence, so I cut it off, but seeing how pretty and healthy it was, I didn't have the heart to throw it away, so I put it in the vase with water with cuttings from my Potho,.....and it actually grew roots!!! Not one by a long shot of having a green thumb..(I usually let nature take over), it surprised me. Now I'm thinking of planting that little branch elsewhere in our backyard...de
wert9wert
15 years ago
I bought fifteen dwarf crepe mytles in the HD annual section about ten years ago. Well, they're NOT annual down here. They grew to about three feet - pinks, roses, lavendars, whites - and they are absolutely beautiful. After they flower a few times, they do make seeds that I read need sunlight to sprout - the main plants stays bushy dusty green throughout the year. The seeds have fallen to the ground and a few sprouted, so now I have about twenty-five. They seem to be very hardy as I moved them at least three times over the years. I've looked for them again and again - only one HD (the one in Wilton Manors) sells them for 88 cents. I love this plant!!!!!!!!!!!!
katkin_gw
15 years ago
I have a couple of dwarf crepe myrtles and they do produce seeds that sprout close to the mother plants. Easy to transplant else where in the garden or use for a trade. ;o)
Irma_StPete
15 years ago
Thanks for the info above...been wondering about the viability of those seeds. New question: OK to snip off now all the outer parts of the (dried) branches with their seeds? If so, would a hard prune result in a stronger plant or more blooms next spring/summer?

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