On 8 May 2003 22:34:00 -0700, (mardab) wrote:

I planted a 9 foot crape myrtle last fall. This spring the plant seems
to be dead but is starting to sprout new growth at the base. Is this
the way this palnt grows...new growth from the ground up or does it
just take a long time for the old branches to show buds? I'm in zone
5.

There is a term "root hardy" for plants that will die back above
ground and regenerate from the roots. Many crape myrtles are in this
class. In my zone (which I used to believe was 8, and now appears to
have been re-assigned to 7-something. Maybe), crape myrtles are all
over the place. During a very hard winter, some plants/trees died
above ground, but sprouted from the roots the following spring.

In this area, it is recommended that sprouts and suckers should be
trimmed off mature trees. If the climate is such that new growth will
be the main plant for a year, of course you'd let it alone and let it
be a bush.

Crape myrtles *are* slow to leaf out. Mine just began a couple of
weeks ago, way behind other deciduous trees in the area. I'd never
noticed until someone posted here that they remained bare so long.