I grew up on the Southeast coast of North Carolina. The weather is humid and subtropical. The winters are very mild and the hot summer days are often followed by short rain storms. I did not realize how much the ocean breezes cooled the air until I moved about an hour-and-half inland to attend college. The summer air was so humid and thick you could cut it with a knife!
The good side, as a gardener, is I could grow so many tropical species down there! Now I am two-and-half hours from the coast and the winters are just a bit colder but not by much thanks to climate change.
Crepe Myrtles are a very popular tree or large shrub throughout the South. The flowers originally came in shades of red and pink but now there are whites and lavenders and purples. There are also a few sections with burgundy foliage, also.
NCSU has a very nice list of the cultivars with descriptions of flower color and growth habits:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/lagerstroemia_indica.html
A few photos for Crape Myrtles around Raleigh, North Carolina.
I call this color watermelon. These are in my neighborhood.
A pink Crape Myrtle in Cameron Village Shopping Center.
A young group of mixed colors near Cup-A-Joe.
And a beautiful purple Crape Myrtle in front of The Reader’s Corner.
This beautiful red one on Oberlin Road has a very nice shape.
And a white one photographed late in the evening.
Crape Myrtles need to only be pruned to removed crossed limbs or damaged or low hanging limbs. Some varieties have beautiful bark that can peel in beautiful strips which revel shades of red and brown.
Unfortunately, most landscape crews do not know how to prune this heavy blooming plant. They tend to prune crape myrtles as if they are herbaceous perennials.
This promotes an awful water- sprout type growth.
These are weak stems which may eventually split the main trunk where they are attached. This type of pruning creates a look of a pollarded tree. Its not attractive or healthy for any tree.
Just say NO and don’t.
No! No! No! If you are in doubt that your Crape Myrtles need to be pruned. Just don’t do it. They will look better with a more natural shape anyway.
This is a properly pruned crape myrtle.
This pruning allows the a more natural shape to develope which allows the beautiful and colorful bark to be seen.
🙂
Arthur in the Garden! 
Many plants suffer abuse from people who understand nothing about them.
LikeLike
There are very few trees that can stand that likd of pruning.
LikeLike
Stunning colours – and lovely shape when pruned well. Shame they are sometimes savaged so!
LikeLike
Beautiful! I love crape myrtles, especially the tall ones (trees). I was going to plant one but was unsure if it would survive the winter here (zone 6) but recently I saw a house that had 2 beautiful specimens, so now I’m on the lookout for a purple one.
LikeLike
I’m especially fond of the dark, ruby red variety, though it’s not very common. Crepe Myrtles are so beautiful when they’re decades old and tall with huge, overflowing canopies, lining the streets. Nice pics of Cameron Village!
LikeLike
The are THE Southern tree!
LikeLike
Love these strongly coloured trees; nice too that they flower late compared to other trees, so they really extend the season.
LikeLike
They are wonderful!
LikeLike
Really beautiful trees in your photos. It’s so sad and frustrating that “gardeners” know so little about pruning and trimming.
LikeLike
They are staples here in The South.
LikeLike
Those crape myrtles are gorgeous! They sort of remind me of the crab apples in the spring that bloom in white and shaded of pink. Do crape myrtle flowers have a scent to them?
LikeLike
They have a scent but I wouldn’t call it a fragrance. The crinkled or crepe petals are beautiful.
LikeLike
Such beautiful colors! It’s incredible how many varieties there are.
LikeLike
Yes, breeders have been working with flower color and leaf color but also height, too!
LikeLike
Have you noticed that crepe myrtles grown along streets are spectacular? I think they enjoy the hot roads. I have read they will bloom for 100 days. I never kept track to see if that was correct!
LikeLike
They do enjoy the heat. They are from SE Asia and other species from Australia and India have been used to create hybrids.
LikeLike
Beautiful pics & those trees or plants are so colourful: great!
LikeLike
Thanks!
LikeLike