While most gardeners select a crepe myrtle for its showy, papery flowers in the summer, once they are gone the leaves put on a brilliant blaze of red, orange, and yellow in the fall. Long, cool, ...

For more than 50 years, Southern Living has told you how beautiful the iconic crepe myrtle is in every season and how easy it is to grow. No surprise, it is the most widely planted tree in the South.

We all enjoy the colorful blooms of flowering crape myrtles in the summer. But it’s those same trees that all too often fall victim to a misguided winter ritual known as “crape murder,” the aggressive ...

Picture this: a once-graceful crape myrtle, reduced to sad, bare stumps each winter — a practice known as “crape murder.” Many believe this drastic pruning will create a spectacular show of flowers, ...