Plan Ahead When You Buy Crape Myrtle
Advance planning is helpful when you buy crape myrtle plants for your garden. Although garden centers in your area should be offering varieties that will do well in the area, you should be aware of the many varieties that have been developed. You will find more choices of size, shape, color, hardiness, and disease-resistance than the average retail display can offer.
The delicate, crinkled texture of the flowers gives these Asian imports their name. Crepe is a fabric used for summer dresses - or the fragile paper streamers used for party decorations - but these flowers actually are long-lasting in the garden. India and Southeast Asia give us the less-hardy varieties, while the ones that can grow farther north originated in china and Korea. The taller, tree-like ones come from Japan.
You should know your planting zone. This will be a numerical designation given to different areas of the country to help gardeners know how hardy plants need to be to thrive in their area. It used to be that crepe myrtles were limited to zones 4 or farther south, but now zone 6 is full of them. The less-hardy varieties come from warmer countries like India and Southeast Asia, while the more cold-tolerant ones are of Chinese or Korean origin.
In addition to enhanced hardiness, the plants now come in many sizes. The Japanese developed crepe myrtles that grow into thirty-foot trees, while plant geneticists have brought dwarf shrubs into the marketplace in recent years. You can even have a lovely hedge now.
In addition to being gorgeous, these shrubs are easy to care for. Pruning helps them produce more of their colorful blooms, and their slender branches are easy to handle with hand-held shears and loppers. Gardeners can choose to have a bushy shrub or one that consists of four to six upright limbs with suckers and laterals removed. It's easy to get the precise height and shape you want with early-spring trimming.
Go online to find your planting zone and the varieties that will give the best results. Then check out things like mildew-resistance, which might be important if your area has this problem. You will find planting advice (full sun is best), pruning guides, and sources online, too. It's a good idea to get container plants grown in a nursery in your region and properly prepared to withstand temperature fluctuations.
Check out the wide range of colors, from white through the pinks to the purples and reds. These shrubs look great up against a wall or a house and make stand-out specimens for the center of a circular bed. The flowers come on new growth, so early spring pruning does not affect summer color. This makes it easy for novices to care for these plants, so don't be intimidated by their beauty.
With a little research and planning before you buy crape myrtle shrubs, you will get one of the most magnificent of all garden adornments. These exotic plants have made themselves at home in America.
The delicate, crinkled texture of the flowers gives these Asian imports their name. Crepe is a fabric used for summer dresses - or the fragile paper streamers used for party decorations - but these flowers actually are long-lasting in the garden. India and Southeast Asia give us the less-hardy varieties, while the ones that can grow farther north originated in china and Korea. The taller, tree-like ones come from Japan.
You should know your planting zone. This will be a numerical designation given to different areas of the country to help gardeners know how hardy plants need to be to thrive in their area. It used to be that crepe myrtles were limited to zones 4 or farther south, but now zone 6 is full of them. The less-hardy varieties come from warmer countries like India and Southeast Asia, while the more cold-tolerant ones are of Chinese or Korean origin.
In addition to enhanced hardiness, the plants now come in many sizes. The Japanese developed crepe myrtles that grow into thirty-foot trees, while plant geneticists have brought dwarf shrubs into the marketplace in recent years. You can even have a lovely hedge now.
In addition to being gorgeous, these shrubs are easy to care for. Pruning helps them produce more of their colorful blooms, and their slender branches are easy to handle with hand-held shears and loppers. Gardeners can choose to have a bushy shrub or one that consists of four to six upright limbs with suckers and laterals removed. It's easy to get the precise height and shape you want with early-spring trimming.
Go online to find your planting zone and the varieties that will give the best results. Then check out things like mildew-resistance, which might be important if your area has this problem. You will find planting advice (full sun is best), pruning guides, and sources online, too. It's a good idea to get container plants grown in a nursery in your region and properly prepared to withstand temperature fluctuations.
Check out the wide range of colors, from white through the pinks to the purples and reds. These shrubs look great up against a wall or a house and make stand-out specimens for the center of a circular bed. The flowers come on new growth, so early spring pruning does not affect summer color. This makes it easy for novices to care for these plants, so don't be intimidated by their beauty.
With a little research and planning before you buy crape myrtle shrubs, you will get one of the most magnificent of all garden adornments. These exotic plants have made themselves at home in America.