The red leaves are most likely a sign of stress. Could it be disease? - That's possible, but unlikely if they were in good shape when you got them. Lack of nutrients? - Nope, forget that one. Watering every day? - Should only be done if you have very very sharply draining soil. You really need to test soil moisture (down a few inches below the surface) to determine when to water. Longer (deeper), less frequent watering is much better than shorter (quick), frequent watering. Post some pictures AND tell us about how your crapes were planted (especially details about planting depth, root preparation, and soil amendments used). The link below may also be helpful with future planting endeavors. Here is a link that might be useful: Planting a Tree or Shrub

It's 'black sooty mold' caused by mold growing on the 'honey dew' secreted by aphids. Spraying with insecticidal soap is recommended. The white spots are most likely powdery mildew which some varieties of crape myrtles are subject to mostly in the spring, especially if there is not good air circulation and they are not in full sun. Sometimes trimming out some of the interior foliage will help, plus you can spray them with an anti fungal solution. Good luck. Crape myrtles are beautiful trees and are mostly carefree. Incidentally I find using the Gilmour 362 professional hose end sprayer to be the most convenient way to spray. Amazon.com carries it. Here is a link that might be useful: Google search results for sooty mold on crape myrtles ...

The plant is ok, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just producing large amounts of anthocyanin (red pigments) in the leaves maybe in response to the large amount of sun it gets. Actually the flowers can fade on cloudy days because it doesn't get enough sun i think.

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.