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.

Thanks for the replies!! I didn't think that crape myrtles were grafted, but I'm going to email Ms Halleck and see if she can give me any info. I bought the one on the right and the one in the middle last spring at Home Depot. . .kept them in their pots (outside but watered) all year and was going to plant this spring (ha! can't be accused of rushing into something!). The one one the left came out late April/early May, the one in the middle I thought might be dead but there was green wood when I snapped a twig, so I kept hoping. . and watering. Finally gave up and went back to HD this spring and got another BD (albiet a little smaller). Now, the little "late to the game" guy is making leaves! They are not the dark burgandy/black, but not as green as my other myrtles. . .really a guess as to what will happen. Think I will plant the two dark ones where I initially planned last year and put the other lil guy in a place unto is own. Again, thanks all!!

I wasn't familiar with black diamond but was also curious so I looked in the All Things Plants website which I frequent. Here is what I found (although it still doesn't answer your question about mildew resistance): It turns out that the Black Diamond™ series of crepe myrtles are in fact the exact same plants as the Ebony series of Crepe Myrtles produced by the breeding work of Dr. Cecil Pounders of the ARS-USDA. When you buy a Black Diamond crepe myrtle, you are in fact actually buying an Ebony crepe myrtle. I contacted Dr. Pounders about all this, and he responded by saying, "Yes, Ebony Crapemyrtles and Black Diamond Crapemyrtles are the same clones under different names. Black Diamond Pure White is 'Ebony & Ivory'. BD Best Red is 'Ebony Flame'. BD Blush is 'Ebony Glow'. BD Crimson Red is 'Ebony Fire'. BD Red Hot is 'Ebony Embers'. The Ebony names are the officially registered cultivar names and anyone is allowed to propagate and sell plants under the Ebony names without paying any fees. The practice of selling public domain plants under a trademark is legal and is not a new practice. You usually can identify the practice if you see a trademark plant tag with no ppaf or patent number listed." So there you have it, Crepe Myrtle fans, straight from the horse's mouth. Edited to add this link to an article by Leslie Hallack, a horticulturist which does say there is an improved resistance to mildew and leaf spot. Still doesn't really change my mind about using a bunch of crepe myrtles again. http://lesliehalleck.com/garden-library/articles/article-for-reprint-black-diamond-in-the-rough-new-crapemyrtles-in-big-dema

Ha, ha.., I think everybody in North America (Zone 7 and higher) has planted a 'Black Diamond' Crepe Myrtle. I planted my own last year. Yeah, I wouldn't worry about the fabric (assume it was purchased in a larger pot).