I have had about a dozen Dazzle Me Pink Crapemyrtles in my Oklahoma garden for the past 4 or 5 years. They are not in an ideal location (only about 2 hours of sun daily), but even so, they have bloomed well for me. One thing I have learned about these particular dwarf crapes is that they do not perform well unless I give them LOTS of water and fertilizer throughout the growing season (unlike my 20 or so standard crapes, which get fertilized twice a year and watered only when it is really hot and dry). I use both timed-release and (weekly) liquid fertilizer applied with the hose, and the more I give them, the better they bloom. I am a long-time gardener, and I have never grown anything that requires as much fertilizer as these dwarf crapes. That said, I just love them and they are definitely worth the extra time and effort. One caution: These crapes did take a couple of years to get established and start blooming. But that might have changed if I had known from the beginning what heavy feeders they are. Dazzle Me Pink has stayed very small (not over about 14 inches tall), probably because of not getting enough sun. But that's what I wanted anyway, so I'm happy. They are nice, compact shrubs and have absolutely no fungus problems. Can't say enough good things about them!

If there wasn't a heatwave going on in your part of the country, I'd say dig it up now, try to break up the roots, replant, and water well to get it out of the way and let it get started on the new feeders as soon as possible. I suppose technically you could still do it now but you would perhaps want to make sure that you just lay that hose in the mass once it is replanted (and keep it freely watered for the rest of the season). You'd need to prepare for some leaf droop and drop, although sometimes using some of those transplant products might help. They do continually grow leaves until frost so it should recover. Alternately, I've mused about getting a pitch fork and sinking it down near the root mass and wriggling around to loosen it up but since this is a new permanent planting, might as well try to get it on the right track as early as you can.

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.

Anybody know about Burgundy Cotton? How well they bloom? Fall color? I'm trying to figure out a good color combination for my backyard. I'm thinking of a row of light pink with a row of dark purple in front of that. So I'm thinking of the Burgundy Cotton in the back with Zuni or Catawba in the front. I know that Burgundy Cotton is said to have white flowers, but I've seen it in person and it's more of a very light pink, which I think would look nice with the purple. I did a combo of red and pink in the front (dynamite and Sioux) so I'm trying to do a different color combo in the back. Fall color is important to me. Thanks in advance for your advice.