Although native to eastern Asia, crape myrtles are indispensable in the Southern landscape. Its vibrantly colored flowers in shades of pink, purple, red and white from May to September virtually ...

This time of year, when we walk outside, we are immediately hit with a thick wall of Northeast Florida humidity. While most of our landscape trees and plants are drooping or having pest and disease ...

Crepe myrtles, Lagerstroemia indica, vary in size from dwarf shrubs to multi-trunked and single-trunk trees growing to 30 feet tall. Most varieties produce beautiful blooms starting in spring or ...

Years of improper pruning have taken their toll on this crape myrtle tree. (Alan Windham, University of Tennessee) QUESTION: While visiting a local mall, I noticed the crape myrtles had all been cut ...

There’s a lot going on with crape myrtles this summer. I’ve gotten quite a few calls about these highly prized ornamental trees of the South. With all of the rain that we have had over the past month, ...

Editor's note: Brenda Smith is a graduate of the Extension Service Master Gardener class. This will be an occasional column featuring information indigenous to the area. For more gardening news, see ...

With all the rain over the past few months — we have already surpassed our annual average rainfall and are only halfway through the year — lots of plants are growing wild while others are suffering.

You’ve probably seen crape myrtle trees pruned to look like a coat rack. Hopefully, you’re not guilty of doing this. The term “crape murder” was coined to describe this drastic topping of crape ...

Somehow, the belief that crape myrtles should be brutally pruned by cutting off their tops persists, even though it's inaccurate. Crape murder is a term that has been coined to describe this severe ...

Not long ago, I received the following email: “I have two crape myrtle trees in my front yard, one about 25 years old and one about 10 years old. They are in full sun. They usually bloom later than ...