Thanks for the replies!! I didn't think that crape myrtles were grafted, but I'm going to email Ms Halleck and see if she can give me any info. I bought the one on the right and the one in the middle last spring at Home Depot. . .kept them in their pots (outside but watered) all year and was going to plant this spring (ha! can't be accused of rushing into something!). The one one the left came out late April/early May, the one in the middle I thought might be dead but there was green wood when I snapped a twig, so I kept hoping. . and watering. Finally gave up and went back to HD this spring and got another BD (albiet a little smaller). Now, the little "late to the game" guy is making leaves! They are not the dark burgandy/black, but not as green as my other myrtles. . .really a guess as to what will happen. Think I will plant the two dark ones where I initially planned last year and put the other lil guy in a place unto is own. Again, thanks all!!

I've been a chef for 28 years! I use order a case from Tyson's delivery of the Black Diamond steaks One restaurant I worked in we made our own black diamond steaks with Ribeye steaks. I ordered the seasoning mix that came in a large bag like flour would come in but the bag was see through plastic bag. The seasoned powder was called Black Cow. We'd take the ribeye steaks and soak em overnight in the seasoned black-diamond powder mix. I'd broil the Black-Diamond each order. They tasted exactly like the awesome Black Diamond steaks! Some restaurants do have Black Diamond Steak on the menu. I too have searched for recipes to make my own Black Diamond steaks! I found recipes online claiming it was Black Diamond steak recipe & when I tried the recipes? None of them came close to the taste I'm looking for of the Black Diamond Steak! Now when I search online and see a recipe for Black Diamond? As soon as I read a certain ingredient in the recipe I know it's not what I'm looking for. If you've had the real Black Diamond Steak at one time? You'll never forget how tender the steak was and the flavors out of this world! I gave up on trying other people's recipes online for Black Diamond Steak! I found recently online that anyone can buy the famous Black Diamond Steaks by the case. Tyson's is the brand & they come with free delivery to your front door. You get 32-6 oz Black Diamond Steaks for $201.95 wholesale price that comes to only: $6.32 each! BJ'S wholesale Club, use to sell the Tyson's Black Diamond 6 oz steak that came in 4 6 oz steaks in a box but it figures they discontinued that awesome product! However the price was way too high to buy them from BJ'S (Even though I did buy them cause I love these steaks!) Now that I can buy them myself ? An entire case at a wholesale price? That's so well worth it! I have a stand-up freezer here at home. I can easily by a case with plenty of room for a whole case of the best Black Diamond Steaks the one & only original I've always loved very much!

I have 26 Japanese Maples, most purchased as very tiny first or second year plants, and I do no winter protection on them and haven't lost a one in nine years. Get them well established with proper watering this fall, mulch them well, and leave them alone. As far as the Crape Myrtles, in my own experience it depends on how the winter winds move throughout your yard. I will give you a hint on managing them even though it makes me look like an idiot- When I first moved here in '07 I had no idea how to manage many of this zones plants. Spring was an extremely amazing time- I had come from South Florida, so spring was a novelty to me. Every morning I would rush out to look at my new plantings to see buds or leaves. I got busy doing my spring chores- pruning and so on. My first year with Crape Myrtles here (we had them in SoFla as well) they never budded. I always thought the winter had gotten them and pruned them back knowing that the roots had probably survived and they had. They always came back, but seemed to die back every winter. I saw nice big mature Crape Myrtles in my neighborhood, though, and couldn't figure out where I went wrong. Then I had a family emergency year where I had next to no time to garden. I would go out, check the Crape Myrtles for growth and think "I really need to cut those back" but I could never find the time. Finally in about May they budded out! All up and down the stems, too- not just from root growth. That's my very long winded way of saying that they can be VERY late to leaf out. All those years I had cut them back in my early spring frenzy I had been cutting off viable stems. DUH me. I do no winter protection here except for a very few mophead hydrangeas. I try to select good plants for my zone, grow them well, and aside from that they are on their own. I think your plants will be fine.

You're being impatient. I am one zone higher than you. March was COLD here in NJ..., and Crepes are LATE..., ZZZZZZZZZZZ. Mine does not wake up until May, but then I have had flowers into NOVEMBER, so not a bad deal! Relax and enjoy the magnolias, cherries, and tulips till then. This year, flowers that survived the March cold are running a bit late.