Q: I planted six crape myrtles last spring that came as 2-foot-tall sticks. They did fine and grew all year. The problem is, they're rated for Zone 7.

Crape myrtles love the sun, becoming more popular on Staten Island. Huge pink clusters bloom on a pair of crape myrtle trees at the corner of Forest and Bement avenues, in West Brighton.

The numerous crape myrtle cultivars can range in size from under four feet to over 20 feet tall. When selecting a crape myrtle cultivar for the landscape, in addition to color choice, it is also ...

Natchez, Muskogee, Basham’s Party Pink, Sioux and Tonto crape myrtles aren’t as susceptible to cercospora leaf spot as older varieties. The fungal disease appears in late May to early June and ...

Most crape myrtles bloom for 80 to 100 days in a season. 'Muskogee' has a 120-day bloom season. It is large, about 20 feet tall, and begins blooming in early May.

Muskogee Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Muskogee’): Loose, branching clusters of light lavender-pink flowers bloom profusely in the summer, softening any harsh landscape.

“The lavender Muskogee crape myrtle can also be identified by its light-colored bark,” Best said. Some good examples of those are near the railroad tracks at Doty Avenue.

There are four main categories of size for crape myrtles from dwarf (3 to 5 feet), intermediate (5 to 10 feet), medium (10 to 20 feet) and tall (larger than 20 feet).

New crape myrtle varieties with burgundy foliage seem to have less disease. Long term, foliage dis-eases usually are not detrimental to a tree.

Another of his favorites is the lavender crape myrtle. “The lavender Muskogee crape myrtle can also be identified by its light-colored bark,” Best said.