Michael Dirr and associates developed a series of dwarf crapemyrtles, at the UGA/CANR facility, Deering,GA, that they named the Razzle Dazzle® Series. They are being marketed as Proven Winners/Color Choice plants by Zelenka Nursery (MI,TN,NC) and likely by McCorkle Nursery, which is adjacent to the UGA site. Both sell to big box stores, as well as to local nurseries. A PW/CC retailer is supposed to be a full line dealer, but when "big bucks" talks...well you know how that goes! Here's a link to the UGA site that lists the Razzle Dazzle® Series. There may be other crapemyrtles designated as PW/CC, so this is probably not an inclusive list. Rb Here is a link that might be useful: Gardener's Confidence® Collection

Actually I think there are several formulations of Osmocote with different lengths of time they're supposed to be good for--three months, six months, and nine months if I remember, but I wouldn't swear to it. And I think some have differnt n-p-k numbers. I'm curious--I heard, but I'm not a chemist and don't know this to be true--that the coating on Osmocote is temperature-sensitive and at temps over something like 85 or 90 all the fertilizer is released at once. Of course if you apply it with a light hand it probably wouldn't hurt, but if you used it in a pot and were generous, since they can't send their roots out in the world, you might get them burned. Seems to me Louis Miller is once of the people who said that. There are other time-release fertilizers that don't do that, so I use one of those. Used to swear by Osmocote, but I didn't want to risk it.

I suggest planting it in the ground, not in a pot. Fertilize in spring only with 5-10-5 and wrap with cardboard the first few winters. They can easily die back until established.

If the plant is of a manageable size, the easiest way to deal with sooty mold is to just wash it off. In itself, it is only cosmetic and harmless to the plant, unless it is heavy enough to interfere with photosynthesis. What is of greater concern is the reason for the sooty mold in the first place. Sooty mold is a harmless fungal organism that develops only on honeydew or the sweet, sticky excretions of various sucking insects.........aphids, scale and mealy bugs tend to be the most common producers. You need to discover which of these is present nearby and then control them. The insects do not necessarily need to be on the crape myrtle....they could just as easily be on any overhanging plant and the honeydew is merely dripping down on to the crape. And since it takes a while for the sooty mold to develop on the honeydew, it could also be that the insect source is now long gone. But check thoroughly anyway.