Most of us notice that crape myrtles burst into blooms during the summertime here in San Antonio. It’s no wonder that these gorgeous specimens are the official state shrub of Texas (yes, they can be trees too). Clusters of cotton-candy pink, vibrant-fuchsia, rosy-red, snow-white, and soft-lavender flowers cover the canopies of these favorite shrubs and trees. It’s a great time to see the true colors of different varieties of crape myrtles so you know you are getting exactly what you want when you select your favorite specimen at Rainbow Gardens.
However, if you also follow our expert gardening advice, you know that summer is not the optimal season to plant trees and shrubs. You want to make sure you get your favorite color, but you also want to make sure your tree will survive once planted. So what can you do? You can follow the five tips we’ve compiled to help you protect your crape myrtles if you buy them in summer. Fall is right around the corner and you’ll be planting before you know it. It really is the best time for planting here in San Antonio, Texas. For a free downloadable infographic, you can click this link.
5 Tips for Crape Myrtles Summer Protection
- Wait to plant crape myrtles in fall. It is just too hot to plant trees and shrubs during summer in Texas. Extreme temperatures and long periods without rainfall are not a good recipe for establishing root systems. The trees and shrubs will go through a tremendous amount of stress, and there is a possibility of them not recovering. Treat them as container plants through the summer and plant in fall.
- Water crape myrtles daily. Container plants need more watering than in ground plants, and that’s just a fact. We water our crape myrtles daily at Rainbow Gardens, and sometimes even twice day when the temperatures are extreme. Since you will be treating your trees/shrubs as container plants through summer, you will need to be diligent watering them. Don’t skimp!
- Bump crape myrtles up to a larger pot. These trees/shrubs tend to get rootbound rather quickly. This means that, in containers, they use their soil up rather fast. No soil means no nutrients for the roots to take up. No soil means no water retention is taking place and any watering will sift straight through the drainage holes or down the sides and out of the pot. Repot your nursery contained crape myrtle into another pot that is at least twice the diameter of the pot it is currently in. Fill the pot with a quality potting mix and you’ve bought yourself some time until fall.
- Offer crape myrtles some shade. While crape myrtles normally love the sunshine, it will do them some good to get a little reprieve from the afternoon sun while you’re waiting to plant them. Place them under the canopy of a larger shade tree where they get dappled sunlight all day, or in an area in your landscape that receives morning sun and afternoon shade.
- Don’t panic about summer stress on crape myrtles. If you’ve followed all of the steps above and still notice your crape myrtle starting to defoliate (drop leaves) a little, don’t worry too much. It’s common for these trees/shrubs to experience a little bit of stress through summer, and these are pretty resilient plants. They’ll bounce back. Crape myrtles are deciduous, so they’ll drop leaves through winter anyway. Once spring rolls around, new growth will develop and buds will burst forth.
I hope this has given you some guidance as to how to choose your favorite color for your crape myrtle and keep it thriving until planting commences in fall!
~The Happy Gardener, Lisa Mulroy
