Greetings!
Last week was our first week at the South Coast (So Co) Farmer's Market. As I had previously mentioned, at this market we are not allowed to display items that we don't grow or produce ourselves. This doesn't necessarily mean that we don't have it. Just ask. We may have it in our truck. We grow true Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) cultivars instead of the hybrids (L. indica X L. fauriei) that are commonly seen in the landscape. True Crape Myrtles, natives of China and Korea, have deeper "true" flower colors from dark red to deep purple, pink and white. L. fauriei, a native of Japan, is limited to mostly white flowers. The flower colors of the most popular hybrids range from rose pink (Tuscarora) to lavender pink (Muskogee) and white (Natchez). The hybrids were created to be resistant to powdery mildew, a serious problem with true Crape Myrtles. Fortunately, painstaking work by a modern breeders has resulted in true Crape Myrtle cultivars with good mildew resistance along with their intense colors. This means that you don't have to settle for pink flowers. Another reason we grow Crape Myrtles is because a lot of the trees available in the trade don't perform well. We see trees affected with mildew so badly that they can't bloom. We see trees with such poor root systems that they grow slowly, have small burnt leaves and few flowers. These problems are due to wholesale nurseries choosing the wrong cultivars and/or growing the trees in a temporary, mostly artificial, soil. Our trees are currently in 5-gallon and would stand about 5 to 6 feet tall when planted. I've been waiting for them to bloom, but they are running a bit late this year. We've decided to make them available now that they are of excellent size and starting to bud. MOST OF OUR TREES WILL BE IN BLOOM IN ABOUT 3-6 WEEKS. Normal bloom period is all summer, although we sometimes see flowers in spring and even late winter. A typical Crape Myrtle will grow 15'-20' tall and nearly as wide, an excellent choice for smaller beds. These trees look great as a specimen, in groups, in groves and in single file along a path. All can be trained as a multi trunk or single trunk tree. All are deciduous and nearly all have good fall foliage color. Mature trees develop a beautiful smooth, marble-like, exfoliating bark. Crape Myrtle trees love heat. Provide good air circulation and full sun for at least most of the day. As with most plants we warn against the use of compost as a soil amendment. Young trees require ample water (daily until established). After several years these trees become tolerant of short periods of drought. Crape Myrtle trees bloom on new growth, so moderate winter pruning has little effect on bloom quantity. | 
