A myriad of crape myrtles

february 2014 ▲ DIGGer 17

By Kym PokornyCrape myrtles of almost every size

introduce themselves in a big way. Each spring, trunks undress to reveal beautiful layers of peel-away bark. During August and September, boisterous blooms come alive in shades from purple and pink to red. Fall brings startlingly bright red, orange and yellow foliage.

But as beautiful as these colorful trees are, growers and gardeners in the Pacific Northwest have been slow to latch on to them. According to Paul Bonine, co-owner of Xera Plants in Sherwood, Ore., people assume crape myrtles aren’t cold hardy here.

They’re partly right — some aren’t. But some are. “It depends on the culti-var,” Bonine said.

Bonine has tested approximately 50 Lagerstroemia varieties over the last 16 years. He has narrowed them down to those that are guaranteed to bloom if they’re given what they need: full sun and irrigation in the dry season.

“The deal is, there’s a myth that crape myrtles are drought tolerant,” he said. “That’s true in the East, where there’s summer rainfall. But here, you have to keep watering consistently until they bloom in summer, or they’ll shut down. You can literally water them into bloom.”

They don’t need a lot of water. A deep soak every two weeks is sufficient.

Non-native to Native AmericanCrape myrtles most likely made

their way to North America from

Colorful and cold hardy,

crape myrtles come in a

variety of shades and sizes

A myriad of crape myrtles

Dynamite® crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Whit II’), with its bright red flowers, is one of the most popular selections by

Carl Whitcom, a breeder based in Oklahoma. Whitcom’s selections are known for their vivid colors, long blooms, mildew resistance,

drought resistance and cold hardiness. Photo by www.KarlGercens.com

18 february 2014 ▲ DIGGer

▲ crape myrtles

southeastern China in the 1700s. First noticed in Charleston, N.C., Lagerstroemia indica traveled across the South into California.

By the early 1900s, the tree had migrated into Oregon, where rugged specimens dot the older sections of Eugene, Salem and Portland.

Hardiness is generally recognized down to USDA Zone 7a (0 degrees), but, according to Michael Dirr, many new crape myrtles can survive in USDA Zone 6.

Dirr is the author of “Dirr’s Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs” and breeder of many cultivars, including the Dazzle® series of compact crape myrtles. He has spotted healthy, flower-ing crape myrtles across the Midwest and Northeast.

In the Pacific Northwest, Lucile Whitman, owner of Whitman Farms in Salem, Ore., began experimenting with crape myrtles in 1980. She got her hands on hybrids from the U.S. National Arboretum’s breakthrough breeding pro-gram, which was started in the 1960s by the late Don Egolf. These varieties were named after Native American tribes.

“I planted them out,” she said, “and the ones that did well year after year were the ones I stuck with.”

The four she settled on as the hardiest and best bloomers were white-flowering ‘Natchez’ (one of the largest at 20–25 feet); dark red ‘Tuskegee’ (15 feet); coral-pink ‘Tuscarora’ (18 feet); and pink-drenched ‘Hopi’ (8 feet). The quartet is always on her availability list, as well as a L. fauriei cultivar named ‘Fantasy’ that she selected for its bril-liant orange bark.

“Year after year, those could stand any amount of cold,” Whitman said.

Bred to succeedIt’s not surprising that the trees

from the Native American series were the hardiest. Egolf wanted to breed for cold tolerance when he started selecting the best crosses of pure L. indica, and he succeeded.

Resistance to aggressive powdery

Pink Velour® (L. indica ‘Whit III’) is another selection from Carl Whitcom. It is famed for its foliage that begins deep burgundy before turning to dark green in summer. The blooms begin as black buds before opening to a saturated shade of pink. Photo by Paul bonine / Xera Plants

L. × fauriei ‘Zuni’ is shown here in its fall color phase. It starts as dark green in the summer, and later in the fall, it will turn reddish purple. It is a mildew-resistant hybrid developed by the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. Photo by Paul bonine / Xera Plants


mildew was an even bigger concern, and his efforts to produce that char-acteristic started in earnest when he brought L. fauriei into the picture. The almost-forgotten species was found on the Japanese island Yakushima in 1956. Botanical gardens and nurseries planted seed from that discovery, and selected for immunity to the mildew. The supe-rior varieties led to Egolf’s highly resis-tant L. indica × L. fauriei crosses.

“That was a big thing,” said Margaret Pooler, a plant geneticist at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., who is carrying on Egolf’s work. “He made crosses between two species. They took and there was viable seed, which made ‘Natchez’ and ‘Muskogee’. They were the first, and now they’re the standard for mildew resistance.”

Not only were building hardiness and defying mildew on Egolf’s mind. So was beautiful bark. All three character-istics were offered by L. fauriei. With the addition of the bonny flowers of L. indica, it was a cross made in heaven.

But breeders never stop. Egolf and others wanted true red flowers. They brought a third species, L. limii, into the mix. After 15 years of work, the first triple crosses, ‘Arapaho’ and ‘Cheyenne’, were released by the arboretum. With large, radiant red trusses, cold hardi-ness, disease resistance, fall color and attractive bark, these trees had it all.

When it comes to bark, though, most agree that the first of the Native American cultivars, ‘Natchez’, broke the mold with cinnamon-colored mot-tling overlaying a smooth olive green surface. Add consistent heavy flower-ing, and you’ve got the country’s most popular crape myrtle.

Bonine, however, puts the cinna-mon-on-white bark of ‘Osage’ at the top of the list. Plus, he said, the clear pink flowers are so abundant in early August, they bend under their own weight and give the tree a lush, lazy look.

“Autumn color is no less spectacu-lar with deep red and orange color that’s long lasting,” said Bonine, who

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▲ crape myrtles


First Editions® Moonlight Magic™ is part of a new line of crape myrtles bred by Michael Dirr and introduced by Bailey Nurseries. These selections resist mildew, are hardy to zone 6, and will rebloom if deadheaded. Ideal for smaller gardens, they will reach 6–10 feet in height. Photo courtesy of bailey nurseries


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has ‘Osage’ and 23 more crape myrtles in his urban Portland garden. “If it never flowered, it would be worth growing this charming small tree.”

From big to small, shady to sunnyOf the 31 varieties released by the

National Arboretum, there’s something for every situation. There are dwarfs, such as ‘Pocomoke’, which reaches 30 inches tall with rosy flowers; on up to 30-foot specimens, such as ‘Muskogee’.

That’s the tree that got Bonine hooked. He spotted a 40-year-old speci-men years ago at Van Veen Nursery in Southeast Portland.

“Each of its two trunks is about 2 feet around,” he said. “It’s enormous. You can see its large and profuse trusses of lavender flowers from 10 blocks away.”

Most crape myrtles are smaller, averaging 12–18 feet, which makes them useful for Darcy Daniels, a Portland garden designer since 2001.

“They don’t get too large for small gardens, and are relatively fast to take their place,” Daniels said, ticking off their advantages. “There are a variety of growth habits, from strongly upright to vase shaped. Crape myrtles have appeal in all four seasons. That’s always my benchmark.”

Her conclusion? “This is a great plant.”

Because the bark is so striking, Bonine suggests underplanting with small winter-interest plants such as hel-lebores that want the shade provided later in the year. For neighboring sunny areas, he recommends yellow-blooming Rudbeckia and Helenium for a spirited look with any color of crape myrtle. September asters and late-blooming salvias are worthy candidates, too.

“Crape myrtles don’t have greedy roots that compete with perennials, so almost anything goes,” he said.

Care and maintenanceIn fact, the ropy roots of

Lagerstroemia easily pierce western Oregon’s native clay soil, making


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▲ wet & wIlD▲ crape myrtles

them more than suitable for the local landscape.

Gardeners should be told to avoid enriching the soil or fertilizing, which causes excessively vigorous, weak growth that’s more susceptible to cold. A layer of mulch is good, though, since it evens out soil moisture. Bonine prefers grass clippings because they warm up the soil and spur the plants to bloom.

Daniels makes sure to tell her cli-ents that the trees are late to leaf out. Home gardeners shouldn’t worry when foliage doesn’t appear until late April or early May, when 70-degree tempera-tures arrive.

“I get calls every year from people who are convinced their crape myrtle has died,” she said. “That’s a fact gar-deners need to be aware of.”

L. × fauriei ‘Natchez’ is a favorite of longtime Oregon grower Lucile Whitman. Years of testing has proven it will stand up to the Northwest winter climate. Photo by Paul bonine / Xera Plants


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Bailey introduces new line of crape myrtles

a new line of intermediate-size crape myrtles will hit the market this spring. the first editions magic series, introduced by bailey nurseries, features plants ranging from 6 to 10 feet, perfect for small gardens and under utility lines.

bred by michael Dirr, owner of Plant introductions inc., the crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia) were specifically selected for disease resistance, as well as size.

“most importantly, they are highly resistant to Cercospora leaf spot and powdery mildew,” according to alec charais, marketing and communications manager for bailey.

the six-plant series includes two — ‘moonlight magic’ and ‘midnight magic’ — that sport dark purple foliage all season. flower colors come in white, purple and shades of pink. the new crape myrtles are hardy down to usDa Zone 6.

“the other advantage,” charais said, “is that they’re easy to prune and will rebloom if deadheaded.”

first editions magic series will be available in limited quantities this spring in the northwest.

They also need to know how to prune — or rather, not prune — the trees. Cutting too much is a common mistake, Bonine said. He strongly suggests limiting pruning to cleaning out the interior and, if desired, gently shaping to accentuate the natural form. Since crape myrtles bloom on new wood, clip in early spring.

Whitman agreed. “Really, the great thing about crape myrtles is you can throw them out there and without any pruning, they’ll end up with a really pretty, multi-trunked form.”

New varieties on the horizonAs red flowers beckoned breed-

ers in the 1980s, dark purple does now. According to Pooler, the arbo-retum pushes forward with that goal. Breeding programs also concentrate

First Editions® Coral Magic crape myrtle Photo courtesy of bailey nurseries


▲ crape myrtles

on burgundy foliage and more compact, shrubby plants.

Mike Dirr in Georgia and Carl Whitcom in Oklahoma are busy at work on small crape myrtles. Dirr’s Dazzle series, the best of which, he wrote, are Dazzle Me Pink (Lagerstroemia ‘Gamad V’), a 3-foot-tall shrub with bubblegum pink flowers; and Cherry Dazzle (Lagerstroemia ‘Gamad I’), the first red-flowered, compact shrub intro-duction, eventually growing 3- to 5-feet tall and wide.

In the last 25 years, Whitcom has eschewed crosses of L. indica and L. fauriei and raised seedlings from a sin-gle outstanding red cultivar of L. indica. He sowed seed and waited to see what he’d get, selecting for the most mildew resistant, hardiest and drought tolerant. The results are introductions with more vivid colors than the arboretum collec-tion, longer bloom and, most exciting, dark-hued foliage.

Two of the most popular are Dynamite® (L. indica ‘Whit II’), with bright, true red flowers; and Red Rocket® (L. indica ‘Whit IV’), with extra-large, cherry red trusses. Both grow to 20 feet.

“He’s putting out some of the best crape myrtles in the country,” Bonine said of the Oklahoma breeder. Bonine’s favorite of the series, though, is Pink Velour® (L. indica ‘Whit III’), with black buds against deep burgundy foliage that changes to dark green in summer. Flowers are what he describes as “shrill pink.”

The demand for crape myrtles is there, according to Whitman — and it’s growing. Daniels, for instance, would be more adventurous if additional vari-eties were available in larger sizes.

“World-wide, there are well over 200 named varieties,” Pooler said. “It’s a popular plant. There’s a reason for that. You can’t go wrong.”

Kym Pokorny is a freelance writer specializing in gardening and the nursery industry. She can be reached at [email protected].

A myriad of crape myrtles

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