I have been growing crepe myrtle 'Hopi' for a few years in the western burbs. It has been doing well this summer. I have saved a substantial amount of wood by mulching in the fall. This is the only special care it receives. It probably won't reach its full southern potential here but it is growing and flowering. I also have a small sprout I planted late last summer (from Virginia) that I forget about (then assumed to be dead) growing in a backyard bed. I did nothing to this dead stick and it was a cold winter. I think it might be developing a bloom spike. The trick is to find a large one (take a trip to the South -- They are sooo cheap) and plant it out right when the danger of frost has passed. P.S. The crepe myrtles at the Home Depot are probably 'Tonto' (if you have the same stock as my Home Depot. This is one of the more hardier varieties.

Cearbhaill, taking out the grass is definitely an option if I can't figure this out by the end of next year. I have other trees (albeit non flowering) that exist on our property, in or around the lawn which are probably being negatively influenced the same way as the crape myrtle. So it's in my best interest to solve this issue. What do you mean by is the root flat above ground? As I follow the truck down to the ground there is a thin half inch layer of soil (which is covered by mulch) that exists above the major root system that developed off the trunk. So the roots aren't exposed, but yet aren't too deep. I've see crape myrtles in the area where you can see the base roots fully exposed in a 3 foot diameter circle around the truck before the lawn begins, and those trees thrive. And I have also seen the opposite. How could the mounding affect this situation (besides a possible water retention issue which doesn't exist in this case). Thanks for the feedback.

I am in Australia and have been interested in the chat here. Crepe myrtles thrive here in an arid climate. All around town and in my garden. I have perfect conditions for trees everything grows double the size and twice the rate because I live on 30m of river soil on a flood plain. BUT the dark crepe myrtles are not only falling to thrive but slowing looking worse. We have had two very wet years but the soil has perfect drainage. Everything else in the garden around them is thriving. The common consensus here seems to be they are a weak plant. I might wait a year more and if they don't take off I am going to replace them. Thanks for thoughts everyone.

Thanks embothirium, the linked article was interesting. The engineer in me wishes there was a way to get a more accurate and (somewhat) tailored growth estimate for a given species but I think the bottom line is that there are way too many variables/unknowns at play. Thanks Todd. I didn't know the foliage on the miami was larger; interesting. After a bunch of phone calls, I found another nursery (an hour away) that has a few 15 gallon specimens although they subsequently told me they were ~5 feet tall(including the container) which sounds a little small for a 15 gallon. I may call back this weekend to try and get clarification before I drive out there with our CRV. I had 2 (25/30 foot) Ashe trees in our front yard that died from the Emerald Ashe borer and had to be removed last year. I don't want to put the crapes in the same exact spots but I'll use them to fill in some of the open space (void). I'm struggling a little with where in our front yard I should plant them. There are definitely places I don't want to plant them due to: (a) county/utility easements (not too close to the road or power lines), (b) existing trees/plants that require spacing, (c) views/sight-lines from inside the house that we don't want to obstruct, and similarly (d) views from the street we don't want to obstruct. It's these latter two considerations and imagining how the (mature) trees would look if they were planted at one location versus another that I find challenging.