There are several folks in zone 6 New England who grow crape myrtles. Here is a link to various discussions on them. I know it has been mentioned that sometimes they get killed to the ground in particularly cold winters, but they regrow from the roots, so they end up more shrubby and less tree-like. I think choosing hardier varieties is important also. If you have the sticky clay that I grew up with in Cleveland, you might want to ask about how they do with clay soil.

Mine are perennials not bushes. I like them though.

Crapes are generally listed as hardy to zone 7 (maybe 6b with some die back in severe Winters). But regardless of whether they survive your Winters or not..., they still will need HEAT and SUN in the growing season to do anything. Are the ones you want planted on the north side of the house in full sun? Also, be careful about planting too close to the house. Many of these wanna be TREES, not shrubs (at least in milder zones), so if they are really happy they will do better than you might expect and eventual size can become an issue.

P.S., My own collection (in Zone 7/NJ) includes Zuni (magenta), Catwaba (grape purple), "Dwarf" Hopi, my biggest (pink), Dynamite (red).

Sorry; I need to correct my post. I did get the Variegated Pink Stellar Dogwood from DAS Farms but I got the other three trees from Forest Farm in Oregon. As I said, I did a lot of research on nurseries before selecting these two. I mistakenly mentioned Nature Hills Nursery, which is a nursery I don't want to do business with, considering all the bad reviews.

Thank you, NHBabs, for the link. I'll check it out tomorrow when I have more time. I'm near Canton and I don't have the clay you mentioned. I bought a tiller and had 3 cubic yards of a mixture of screened topsoil, compost, sand, and peat delivered, which I'll mix with a couple of cubic yards of 2-3 year old composted Oak leaves I have. I ordered several Dwarf Josee Reblooming Lilac bushes, several red, white and pink Astilbe, several Green & White, Golden Green and Richland Gold Hostas, several White Feather Hostas, several Freeland Blue, Bella Deep Rose and White Alba Prunella, 15 Dwarf Jumbo Burning bushes, several Polar Night Rhododendrons, several Capistrano Rhododendrons, a few Flame Red, Pink, Orange and Yellow Azaleas, several Gladiolus plants and 4 dozen shade loving perennials for under some of my large Oak trees. I'm going to prepare all the areas next to the house and under the Oak trees before I plant them so that they'll have excellent soil in which to thrive. I'm currently lowering the pH in two of the areas down to 6.0 for the Rhododendrons and Azaleas. I also have two Hydrangea trees coming but I haven't yet decided if I want to have them grow as trees or bushes.

I'll have to do some more research to determine which varieties of Crape Myrtle are the hardiest.

Thanks, subtropix, for the input. I get full sun most of the day where I want to plant the Crape Myrtles on the north and south sides of the house. They'll be located twenty feet or more away from the house.

Mine die to the ground every other winter. I see large specimens around the area sometimes, but so far for me the cold gets them.

Lagerstromia x fauriei are the only crepe's you should consider. They will be perennial shrubs in your zone. Keep copious amounts of mulch on year-round.

Dax

Scratch Canada Red and Purpleleaf Sand Cherries off your list - they have significant pest & disease issues. Accolade, Pink Flair and Sargent are a few others you could consider for colorful flowers.

I haven't noticed very good fall color on Yoshino (or the other cherries) in my area.

I don't like to rain on your parade but I have some issues about many of the plants you have ordered or plan to order for your garden. Many are borderline hardy, others have disease or invasive issues which make their choice less than ideal.

Ordering plants online is fine when local sources are scarce but there are significant risks involved that the plant may not be well suited for your locale. Most online sources only address expected winter hardiness but ignore any other potentially limiting factors. Of which there can be many! There is also a risk that the source of the mail order plants indicate a provenance from a warmer climate that may also impact their overall hardiness.

One good way to determine if a specific plant will work in your climate is to see if it is offered in your immediate area or is readily grown in your area (confirming other established plantings). I would look for alternatives for the burning bush (wildly invasive!) and the rhodies (look for any of the ironclads instead) and if any of the azaleas are evergreen. I hope you realize that altering your soil pH is not a permanent fix and you will need to continually amend to maintain sufficient acidity to keep the rhodies and azaleas happy. I would also site the dogwood where it receives afternoon shade and keep my fingers crossed. And understand that the crapes will most probably never assume anything like a full tree size but more like a woody-based perennial (similar to a butterfly bush), dying back to or needing to be pruned to the ground in most years.

Thank you, arbordave, for the information. I appreciate it very much. I'll certainly check out the Accolade, Pink Flair and Sargent varieties. I want good bloom color more than anything. Also, thanks for the information on the Yoshino. That's why I'm here asking questions from those who have experience with these trees. I can look at all the pictures I can find online but they're really not representative of any given area of the country.

Thanks, cearbhaill, for the information. I still intend to check on any hardy varieties of Crape Myrtle but it seems that they simply won't survive as trees in my zone and if they're going to die back in the winter I don't think they would regrow to more than a small shrub. I may have to do without them, which is a shame considering how nice they look.

Thanks, Dax. I'll check out the Lagerstromia x and see what I can learn about it. I suppose I'm doomed to never having a Crape Myrtle tree.

There are some real cool trees still. Heptacodium miconiodes; Stewartia pseudocamellia (there are -35 F provenance ones being sold and are propagated at Heritage Seedlings - they're wholesale.) I saw some on ebay a few months ago and emailed the seller and he/she had purchased their seedlings from Heritage; Pinus bungeana; Acer griseum; Acer triflorum; those are only a few to consider and each of those has great bark.

Dax

Thank you, gardengal48. I appreciate the information. You are not raining on my parade. I should have asked for advice before ordering. It's advice like yours that I'm here to get. The Burning Bush variety that I ordered is the "Compactus" variety, which shouldn't exceed 4-5 feet in height or width. Many people in the township in which I live have these Dwarf Burning Bushes. I intend to keep them pruned down to about 30 inches. They will be replacing bushes of the same size that are old or dead. If I had done the proper research I would have chosen alternatives. I've already checked several alternatives and some of them look very interesting. I have less than fifty dollars invested in the 15 Dwarf Burning Bushes and if I can't exchange them for something else before they ship I'll have to reconsider whether or not I want to plant them. I may replace them once I do further research on the alternatives I've found.

As for the Rhododendrons I think they'll be OK. They'll be against the house on the east side, protected from the westerly and northwesterly winds. The Capistrano is a cold hardy variety. The Polarnacht is probably not cold hardy but it's rated zone 5-8. I have four Polarnachts and three Capistranos coming. Based on your recommendation I've made a list of the most cold hardy Rhododendrons and Azaleas and will research them later. I do intend to acidify the two beds where the Rhododendrons and Azaleas will be located. I realize that I'll have to check it every year and amend it accordingly. I currently have three purple colored evergreen Rhododendrons growing (They've been here for years and were planted by the previous owner.) on the northeast side of the house but they've never exceeded 28-30 inches in height and produce few flowers, although my neighbors have the same variety and they are quite large and doing very well, probably because they have the proper growing medium. This is the first time I've checked the soil pH and the N, P and K levels since moving into the house eight years ago. The pH is a uniform 7.0 throughout the property and the N, P & K levels are all low throughout the property, which explains the stunted Rhododendrons I have and my other flowers and bushes not doing too well. The Azaleas I ordered are the Mollis variety and are not evergreen. I've already started lowering the pH from 7.0 down to 6.0 and I realize that this will take time. Once I till the screened topsoil, compost, sand, peat mixture and the composted Oak leaves into all the beds I'll need to amend the N, P and K levels as they're all low. I realize that amending these levels will also take some time before I know the true levels. I'm attempting to do it in such a manner that I don't end up burning or poisoning any of the plants. If the Rhododendrons and Azaleas I ordered don't survive I'll replace them with cold hardy varieties.

As for the Variegated Pink Stellar Dogwood, I'm sure it will do very well. I'll put it in the ground in the next two or three days as we are now experiencing an unusual cold wave. It's a very nice specimen that already has some flowers on it. It's currently sitting in my garage next to a window so that it gets some sun light. It's still in the large container it came in. I just recently removed a dying pink dogwood from the northeast side of the house that was about 15 feet in height. Although it bloomed nicely over the past few years it was dying. I discovered that the inside of it had been infested with some type of boring insect that left tunnels and appx. one inch holes throughout the interior of the two trunks. I cut the tree down to ground level where there doesn't seem to be any infestation. I'll grind down the stump to about six inches below ground level in a week or two. All remnants of the tree have been removed from the property. The north side of my property gets sun until around the afternoon and is then shaded by a very large Oak tree on the northwest side, so the dogwood will be getting about six or seven hours of sun and then shade for the remainder of the day.

I've just about resigned myself to the fact that I won't be able to grow Crape Myrtle trees. I do have two Sargent Crabapples (Malus sargentii) and two Goldenraintree (Koelreuteria paniculata) that I received from the Arbor Day Foundation two years ago. One of each is planted on the south and north sides of the property and they're doing quite well. They are already 24-28 inches in height and leafing out quite nicely. I also planted two Crape Myrtle (lagerstroemia indica) that I received from Arbor Day but I forget which locations I planed them in and I can no longer identify them by their color codes as the colors are gone. I'll try to identify them by their leaves later this summer but I imagine they are some of the Arbor Day trees I received that have not grown and therefore there won't be any leaves to identify. I would think that Arbor Day would send me trees appropriate to my zone but then again, maybe that's not the case. I've read that the variety I received is a cold hardy variety but I've also been reading, after my initial post and some of these replies, that Crape Myrtles as a tree are a no-no for any zones lower than zone 7.

Thank you again, gardengal48. I am not offended by anything you have said. Actually, I appreciate the fact that you are willing to share your experience and knowledge. I just wish I had been smart enough to seek all this information before ordering the stock. I'm 66 years of age and I've been retired for eight years. I'm bored, which is why I'm going to spend my time beautifying the property. I intend to do it well, to the best of my ability. Having already made several mistakes and poor choices I will do better in the future.

Thanks again, Dax. I've made a note of the varieties and I'll certainly check them out.

what gal said .. in summation .. if they are not sold locally ... thats most likely because... the sellers dont want to deal with warranty returns.. and customer complaints ... in other words ... they know what will thrive locally ...

but we have all learned a lot.. with zone pushing ... so you may as well also learn ...

see link ... especially the section of dealing with clay soil ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

CB, I haven't read this entire thread, so I may repeat something already said. In any case, the only comments I have are regarding Canada red cherry. Arbordave said they are disease prone. I've had mine for thirty years now and yes, they are now succumbing to black knot, a disease of Prunus (cherries) which is essentially untreatable. But again, it took thirty years for this pathogen to set up shop. That's pretty good. Also, if you were looking at this plant now-this time of year-that would account for the relatively non-colorful foliage. It starts out green but goes to a deep purple by early June here, likely sooner where you are. Very intense coloration. No, the big problem with these is the constant suckering at their base. Even that though is not so bad, so long as you do the sucker removal mid-growing season. It seems they don't return with quite so much vigor when done this time of year. That's really the only caveat with that plant, excepting for the same disease issues that affect all cherries.

Tom - maybe you don't have quite as much black knot disease in your area, but it's very common here.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1719910/canada-red-select-cherry

Thank you, Ken, for your input. I appreciate all the information I can get. The Blue Chinese Wisteria tree is not sold locally but I'm taking a chance that it will grow, flourish and survive. It's zoned 5-9 and I'm in zone 6a so I'm hoping that I'll be successful with it. It's worth a try. The Japanese Lilac, zone 3-7, and the Variegated Stellar Pink Dogwood, zone 5-9, are sold locally. I'm lucky in that there are about a dozen very good nurseries within fifteen miles of my home. I just ordered a Higan Cherry tree and a Magnolia tree from DAS Farms yesterday. I checked with two local nurseries before ordering them and they told me that although they don't stock them, due to a lack of demand, they should grow very well in my area. They also informed me that a Kwanzan Cherry tree would do well in my area but DAS Farms is out of them. I'll get the Kwanzan Cherry when it's available at DAS Farms.

I didn't check with any of the local nurseries before ordering any of the flowers and shrubs. Live and learn, I suppose. I don't have clay soil. Actually, my area of the township I live in is basically a large land mass of sand and gravel covered by appx. 6-8 inches of soil. As I mention earlier, I had 3 cubic yards of a mixture of screened topsoil, compost, sand, and peat delivered, which I have mixed with a large pile of composted Oak leaves. This has been/will be tilled into all the beds around the house and in and around all the areas where the trees are planted to a depth of appx. 12 inches. The soil will be amended appropriately and correctly. I may not have done the proper research on some of the plants and trees I ordered but through a lot of research and a lot of advice from Houzz contributors I've learned how to properly prepare and amend the soil.

I certainly appreciate your input and the time you've taken to share your knowledge and experience.

Should've mentioned it earlier, but Chinese Wisteria is considered invasive. Instead, try the native wisteria called 'Blue Moon'

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c753

Thanks, Tom, for the information. I decided not to get the Canada Red Cherry tree simply because it doesn't produce the colors I'm looking for. I prefer, the pink and white/pink Cherry trees.

@ Arbordave....Oh no, we've got plenty o black knot. It's just that I didn't think these two-now there's a big sample size, lol-in my back yard performed all that bad considering. But whatever. All Prunus get black knot...nobody's going to argue against that.

In truth, somebody gave me the trees. I often cursed them and my decision to plant them over the years-because of that basal suckering habit. But now that their croaking, we're realizing they've done nice things for the back yard, especially now that big silver maple is gone.

Thanks again, arbordave, for your input. The Chinese Wisteria I have, Wisteria sinensis, had been pruned and trained as a tree when I received it. I doubt that I'll purchase any vines unless I decide to build a garden arbor, in which case I'll build one with a swing. The Wisteria I received is almost five feet tall and doing well. I did some research on the Blue Moon Wisteria you mentioned, the macrostachya variety, and I think it would make a nice tree and would probably look much nicer as a vine. I think the color would be more of a purple than a blue.

Thanks, Toronado. I may or may not. I haven't decided. I really wanted a Crape Myrtle tree but that's apparently not going to happen. I've already prepared the areas around the house for the plants and Shrubs I've ordered. There really isn't anywhere I could put a Crape Myrtle shrub. I do have one spot appx. twelve feet long by six feet wide that is currently occupied by what looks to me to be a Weeping White Mulberry tree. Some idiot planted this weeping tree three feet from the garage foundation and two feet away from a sidewalk. The tree roots cracked and heaved the sidewalk last year but haven't yet affected the garage foundation. The top of the tree is brushing against the roof, which is nine feet above ground level. I'm going to remove the sidewalk, the small concrete patio and the weeping tree next year. I'm going to have a friend bring his trackhoe onto the property and dig down deep enough with the bucket to remove the weeping tree with the hopes of saving it and replanting it elsewhere. I'm fairly certain that he can remove it in such a manner that the majority of the root structure will remain intact. You can see the weeping tree in the photo included with this post.

This is the south side of the house. All the other shrubs and trees you see in the photo were removed last year and the beds are bare. This photo was taken in the late afternoon and as you can see that particular area, the east side of the garage, does not get afternoon sun. It gets about four hours of morning sun. For this reason I don't think Crape Myrtles would do very well there as they wouldn't get enough sun. It's my understanding that Crape Myrtle shrubbery also needs to be planted farther away from structures. I suppose for this area I'll have to plant some shade loving shrubbery. I would want shrubbery that either flowers, has berries or has colorful leaves, leaves that either do or do not change with the seasons. Although I know that it would probably make a landscape architect cringe, I don't particularly care for needle leaf shrubbery, for contrast reasons or otherwise, although I have some on the north side of the house that will remain.

The area you see that is still getting afternoon sun is where the Azaleas will be planted. This bed for the Azaleas doesn't get full sun all day, as you may think by looking at the photo. As the sun tracks over the house this area gets about six hours of morning/early afternoon sunlight and about four hours of sunlight that is broken up by some fairly large Oak trees on my property and the property of the neighbor to the east of me, trees that you can't see in this photo. I suppose this is called dappled sunlight.

I would appreciate any suggestions for what would do well in this afternoon shaded area, the area from the weeping tree to the garage man door. I have no intention of building a deck in the future so that doesn't enter into the equation. As I mentioned, the small concrete patio will be removed.

I wouldn't give up on the idea of a crepe myrtle tree before checking out "Palms Won't Grow Here (And Other Myths)" by David Francko, which has a section on crepes and numerous good tips on getting subtropicals to thrive in cooler climates.

I have grown a number of crepes here, all as shrub forms (I am too lazy to go through the exertions needed to get a tree to establish, as well as too cheap to try all the hardiest varieties). The ones that have done best for me have been dwarf crepes grown from seed (dwarf is a relative term, as all have grown into shrubs up to six feet high or more without pruning). After a mild winter most of the woody stems survive; a severe winter typically kills them back to the ground. Often I'll get at least a couple of months of flowering, plus attractive foliage in the fall (which is more than most of my mixed border shrubs provide). My oldest specimen is nearing 15 years old and bloomed nicely last year. They are not fussy about soil, though excellent drainage improves hardiness in general. If you have prolonged heat in summer, that will aid in winter survival (increased buildup of food stores compared to what's attained in mild but cool summer climates).

One consolation is that even in the lower/deep South where crepes are commonplace, there are relatively few well-shaped trees. Mostly you see tall multi-stemmed shrubs, or butchered (topped) horrors.

Good luck.