Neil Sperry says it's time to show them some love.

* What it is: Dynamite is one of the cold-toughest of that common Southern landscape tree, the crape myrtle, one rated to tolerate an average central-Pennsylvania winter (down to Zone 6). It produces ...

Oklahomans definitely have a love affair with our crape myrtles; in many areas, you can see them on practically every street. And why not? Few plants can match the crape myrtle’s spectacular summer ...

So far, 2025 has been the best year I’ve seen for crape myrtles in the past 15 or 20. Many of us feel they’re the best flowering shrubs and small trees for the South, and this year is certainly ...

We all enjoy the colorful blooms of flowering crape myrtles in the summer. But it’s those same trees that all too often fall victim to a misguided winter ritual known as “crape murder,” the aggressive ...

Left, the winged seeds of crape myrtle; and right, an American goldfinch feeding on crape myrtle seed. (Image courtesy Gary Graves) Each year from summer into fall, ornamental crape myrtle trees in ...

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts. An artist friend of mine calls crape myrtles “living bouquets.” In the ...