Crepe myrtle

[Steve C]

Looking for a little info on the crepe myrtle. I spoke with one member here and got some good advice, figure you can never have enough info before making a purchase though so looking to see if anyone here owns a crepe myrtle and can share any info on them.

I ask because one of my customers gave me a $100 gift certificate to The Bonsai Outlet the other day as a tip because he knows I am into bonsai. So in looking at their website one thing that caught my eye was the crepe myrtle http://www.bonsaioutlet.com/crepe-myrtle-bonsai-tree-large-outdoor/

They ship out on Mondays/Tuesdays so just looking for any and all info that may be helpful to a 2nd year novice like myself about these trees. I've read they are hardy to zone 6 but just wondered what cool weather/winter precautions would need be taken, are they a decent novice tree etc etc.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Vin]

I'm a novice as well. However, I have 7 crape myrtles and the one that shows the most promise for bonsai (in my opinion) is my Strawberry Dazzle (very small leaves). I'm not sure how well they will do in your area but might be worth checking into.

 

[Poink88]

I won't waste my money buying crape myrtle from a bonsai store. Better specimen are available elsewhere for much cheaper. They tolerate top and bottom chops well so landscape trees can be easily used.

Go to a landscaping nursery and get one in a big pot...buy the base and lower trunk then chop. If you want small leaves look for dwarf varieties...but being dwarf means slower growth and smaller trunks. The "dazzle" group have many promising ones.

Research each variety...my priority is leaf powdery milder resistance.

Here is one I bought for $80.00 last year (in a 20 gallon pot?) then chopped. It is in a 10" pot now and there is a better nebari buried there.

 

[Steve C]

I understand and would normally agree with that Dario, I know I could get a better tree at the local bonsai nursery if I wanted to actually spend money out of my pocket. But like I said this is not really my money, it's a gift cert and I don't really need any pots or tools. That's why I am looking at the tree there. If I didn't have the gift cert then I wouldn't be looking at the tree (if that makes any sense lol)

 

[Wee]

Steve....I would use that $100 for something that isn't easily picked up at a local nursery or big box store....Maybe a beginner set of tools, nice turn table or something...JMO

I picked up this dwarf myrtle for $20, below are two pics one in bloom....It looks much like the one you posted above.....Unfortunately I left it out on a 5 deg night and I think it's a dead now.

EDIT...I started this post before you posted above....I see you don't need any of the stuff I suggested....I type way to slow.

Brian

 

[catfish chapstick]

I found this one cheap at a local nursery. Just look for good roots.

 

[Steve C]

Is anyone even reading what I typed? lol. Guys, I never buy trees from online sources, I KNOW there are better trees for less money at local nurseries, BUT as I originally said...I got a FREE gift certificate for the Bonsai Outlet and I don't need any supplies, so since it is basically a free tree I was just asking for a little info perhaps on the one I was looking at.

I don't mean any offense by that, but it just seems like no one is understanding that I am using a gift cert so might as well get a tree for free.

 

[edprocoat]

Steve, a few years ago I bought a Chickasaw Crepe Myrtle in July covered with flower buds. It had a trunk over an inch that was about 16 inches high then branched out. I chopped it at 5 inches above 2 little buds. I removed over half the root mass which was surprisingly fine roots and loose in the soil which had a lot of sand in it. It sprouted back like gangbusters, all up and down the trunk. Next came little round red buds and less than a month later I had a bunch of bright lavendar pink color flowers with yellow center flowers lasting until winter time (deciduous). The leaves are small and dark green and they are resistant to most diseases. The thing grew great the next summer, that fall it froze hard and started to die. The bark cracked and peeled open up and down the trunk and the branches died off. They do not take a freeze at all. I read in the ground they will sprout back up from the roots, being in a pot I did not try it as the trunk was what made it nice.

I would buy that one and and trim it way down keeping a few leaves on each branch and try for low buds, if you get one down below the lowest trunk I would chop it there and let it grow a top. BTW mine was $18 bucks at Home Depot.

ed

 

[Steve C]

Thanks Ed, that's the sort of info on them I was looking for. Did you bring yours inside the house during winter at all or just in a sheltered place not all the way inside? Just wondered if I did get it if a few months inside during the hardest part of winter would be manageable for it.

Good to hear they are somewhat resilient, I'm still at the stage were that always is a plus for me till I gain more experience.

 

[edprocoat]

Thanks Ed, that's the sort of info on them I was looking for. Did you bring yours inside the house during winter at all or just in a sheltered place not all the way inside? Just wondered if I did get it if a few months inside during the hardest part of winter would be manageable for it.

Good to hear they are somewhat resilient, I'm still at the stage were that always is a plus for me till I gain more experience.

Steve I think you would need to keep it protected most the winter and it would be fine, I read where they were not cold hardy in Ohio (zone 5b), so until I left Ohio the first year I had it I kept it inside an enclosed lighted box with my tropicals until I went to Florida for the winter where it sat in the shade until mid-March. I moved it on my bench when things started to wake up down there. The next year I was caught by surprise by a freeze Late October in Ohio before it went dormant and it ruined it.

ed

 

[johng]

I think winter protection will be your biggest hurdle...even here in SC I occasionally have some die back or death from winter. I find that the dwarf varieties (chickasaw, pokomoke) are even more sensitive to cold than the larger leaf varieties. In general, they are very tough customers and can easily handle drastic pruning on top and bottom...bud back with out problems...seal cuts to insure good healing.

Good luck and I hope you end up with a good one...Nice customer BTW!
John

 

[Steve C]

Thanks guys, I think I will go ahead and use the gift card for one Monday. Don't really have anything to lose so who knows maybe I'll get a nice little tree to play with. I'll have to come up with a plan before next winter to give it the best chance of survival.

If/when I get it I'll post a pic of what they send.

Thanks again,
Steve

 

[Poink88]

Part of what we are saying subtly... if you have to buy a tree buy something you cannot easily get locally. Maybe a smaller but nice shimpaku or something "exotic". It is your money (though you look at it as just a GC...it is money)...use it as you deem fit.

Good luck!

 

[Cadillactaste]

Thanks guys, I think I will go ahead and use the gift card for one Monday. Don't really have anything to lose so who knows maybe I'll get a nice little tree to play with. I'll have to come up with a plan before next winter to give it the best chance of survival.

If/when I get it I'll post a pic of what they send.

Thanks again,
Steve

I would suggest to speak with Judy here on here forum. She can give you pointers for caring for winter. A heat pad and such...but also a cool temperature area. So it can go dormant and yet not to cold. Not saying you can't have success with a myrtle. But...you will have your work cut out for you preparing a place to winter it so not to cause die back as mentioned. Your in a state known to have winter hit them hard.

I personally would suggest looking at tropicals...where they have success indoors over wintering...where they are not meant to go dormant. Many flowering varieties...but...you seem set on myrtle. So good luck with it. Definitely show a photo of it when it arrives.

 

[jkd2572]

I stick mine in the garage after the leafs fall off from the first frost. My garage never gets below freezing. I will also tell you they grow like weeds back bud like crazy. I have a dwarf variety with very small leafs. I would love to find a very old dwarf, but these just showed up at nurseries in my area a couple of years ago. I have never found a base like Dario's tree, but I will keep looking.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Steve....I would use that $100 for something that isn't easily picked up at a local nursery or big box store....Maybe a beginner set of tools, nice turn table or something...JMO

I picked up this dwarf myrtle for $20, below are two pics one in bloom....It looks much like the one you posted above.....Unfortunately I left it out on a 5 deg night and I think it's a dead now.

EDIT...I started this post before you posted above....I see you don't need any of the stuff I suggested....I type way to slow.

Brian

Even your grow boxes are nicely done!

 

[Steve C]

I appreciate the feedback everyone, thanks. I placed the order last night for the Crepe myrtle. I understand what you mean Dario, and if they did have something that was not readily available locally then I probably would have done just as you said and got the more "exotic" species. But everything on the website I can get locally with the exception of the Wisteria and the Crepe myrtle. For some reason I am not a big fan of Wisteria, so I went with the Crepe myrtle.

I've been doing a lot of reading on the myrtle the past few days and I'm sure I will do a lot more research on it over the summer so that I can have a plan well before winter to try to take care of it best way possible during the cold months.

I'll post a picture of what they send me this week. Thanks again!

Steve

 

[Steve C]

Crepe myrtle came today. I'm pretty pleased with it, I think it will make a nice first crepe for me to gain some experience with and see how it does.

 

[Wee]

Much nicer than mine and also better than the photo on the website....Congrats.

Brian