Crape Myrtle Zone: 6 to 9 Growth Rate: Fast to Medium Plant Type: Deciduous flowering shrub or small tree Family: Lythraceae Native Range: China and Korea Height: 10 to 30 feet Spread: 15 to 25 feet Bloom Time: 120 days, June - September Bloom Color: white, pink, red, or lavender Flower/Fruit: Very showy 6 to 12 inch long clustered blooms (panicles). The fruits that follow are brown or black. When mature they dry and split releasing disk shaped seeds. Fall Color: Showy orange, red and yellow. Sun: Full Sun Water: Medium Maintenance: Medium Drought Tolerance: High Soil Tolerances: clay; loam; sand; acidic; alkaline; well-drained Site Requirements: Full Sun, well drained soil; protect from drying winds. General Culture: Best grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in full sun. Does well in loamy, clay soils with good drainage. Susceptibility to winter injury. Plant in a protected location and apply a good winter mulch. Growing crape myrtles in extreme cold areas can be tricky because the above ground branches often die to the ground in winter, particularly when temperatures dip below -5 degrees F. Above ground branches are considered to be winter hardy to USDA Zone 7, whereas roots are usually but not always hardy to USDA Zone 5. Colder areas can grow these plants as woody shrubs by pruning them back to live wood in spring at the time new foliage begins to appear (in somewhat the same manner as with shrub roses). With protection, top growth will survive some winters, but will still suffer significant injury or die to the ground in harsh winters. Uses: Good as a specimen shrub or in groups. Quite effective as a tall screen or informal hedge. Excellent container plants or Bonsai. ?Please use for sowing Jiffy 7 Peat Pellets, soak them in water and put in a plastic pot. Alternatively, normal seed substrate could be used as well. Sow the seeds on the peat pellets and cover the seeds with a thin layer of peat (about 2 mm). Then put the plastic pot in a ziplock bag - with a pot size of 6 cm , a ziplock bag of size 12 x 17 cm is recommended . Fill in the ziplock bag as much tap water with a few drops of universal fertilizer, so that after the absorption of the substrate a few mm of water remain on the bottom Location: on the windowsill or in a small greenhouse in partial shade, daytime temperatures at about 75-83 F, somewhat lower at night at 68-75 F. price is for 10 seeds