'Catawba' is not usually bushy. It's an upright cultivar. It can be kept more upright by limiting the number of trunks, or, encouraged to be more bushy by cutting out dominant trunks and allowing multiple trunks to arise. There are many other crape cultivars that are lavender/purple and small. Examples would include 'Dwarf Royalty' (royal-purple, dwarf, 4'-8'), 'Petite Orchid' (orchid, dwarf-upright, 4'-6'), and 'Petite Plum' (plum-purple, dwarf-upright, 4'-6'). The biggest obstacle I can see with growing a crape in a pot (assuming you replant it, as you said you were willing to do) is possible hardiness issues. In your area (7b/8a) most crapes will do fine in-ground, but you might loose some in a cold winter. As I'm sure you know, trees' and shrubs' roots are not nearly as hardy as their above ground parts. You may be OK (especially considering the heat your patio might give off), but I wouldn't bet either way.

Dora, Try not to take things too personally People aren't lurking around corners just waiting to get you! ROFLMBO It can be very important to spell things right. Even if it's not important to you, it could make a big difference for the next person that reads your post and wants to know what you are talking about or look things up related to the conversation. Spelng othur werds rite mae note bee thet importent, butt spelng tha nam uf tha plaent rite iis wurth doin iff yur goin ta ad a poste. For example, what good will it do someone to look up your lipstick if they are looking for a crape myrtle for their yard???? Mush valuable info is not available through google or other search engines without proper spelling. If it's not worth spelling correctly, it may not be worth writing (as in the case of your lipstick I mean crape myrtle).

DUDE. Ken. Last year, some of the smallest hostas, which are on the top shelf of my wire shelving units, started to get sunburned and had to be moved to the second shelf. So, there is definitely room for a 3 gallon bucket of mini crape myrtle on each of the 2 shorter wire shelving units. Purple Velvet is supposed to max out at about 4-5' high and wide (Purple Velvet Crape Myrtle). Berry Dazzle is a tad smaller, maxing at about 3' x 3' (Berry Dazzle Crape Myrtle). They certainly don't arrive at the house that size; that is after several years. The plants you get are more like a foot or two high at the time. By the time they would get to their mature size, hopefully I'll have my little house and a yard to plant them in. It's just that none of the little houses I'm interested in have come up on the market yet. I'm ready to rock and roll when the right one (i.e. in good shape and having a flat yard to garden) comes up on the market. As for the hostas, I carefully cut back virtually all of the dead leaves last fall, to rob vermin of any overwintering places. So the hosta containers look very neat, and I'm waiting for May pips. I also trimmed away all the dead foliage from the window boxes. I noticed that last year's lantana and callibrachoa were extremely susceptible to wilting if I didn't water every single day, so I think I'm gonna go with deep pink geraniums and maybe varied purple petunias this year in the window boxes. The heucheras are already forming teeny baby leaves at their centers. Of course, the gorgeous Night Eyes fuschias died during the winter, but I want to repeat their splendor as soon as the local frost-free date rolls around, which should be around the first of May. I am really looking forward to having an actual yard to plant my beloved plants in. I will see if there is also room for a Rising Sun redbud in my eventual yard; they are so beautiful. Of course, I have been babying my 40 houseplants all winter, to keep my hand in. If you want a baby spider plant, I know where you can get one cheap...

i thought the whole fabric pot thing was for your big move from nyc.. to where.. baltimore ... i dont understand why you still insist on using them?? i dont see anything wrong with leaving it in the pot.. until it needs to be up potted ... have you pulled it out of the pot to see what the roots look like ... are they seriously winding around the pot??? if so.. you have other issues to address rather than whether you can put it in a bag ... peace out ... ken