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Thursday - July 01, 2010

From: Fulshear, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives, Transplants
Title: Best time to plant non-native Crape Myrtle in Fulshear TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

When are the best times to plant Crape Myrtles? My husband and I have just moved to Fulshear, TX (just slightly west of Houston) and being summer, I didn't think this was the best planting period. I read spring or fall. Is that considered best, in your opinion?

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is committed to the growth, protection and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown.  Lagerstroemia indica, (from Floridata) Crape myrtle, is native to Asia, hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 9. As such, it is out of our range of expertise. However, we can tell you that we recommend that woody plants, which include shrubs and trees, be planted in your area of South Texas, Zone 9a, in late Fall or Winter. Planting one now, in the full heat of Texas summer, will almost guarantee that the tree will have transplant shock, and possibly not survive. 
 

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