Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Crepe Murder

Many people tend to HEAVILY prune their Crepe Myrtles about this time of year, or a little earlier. I read that such heavy pruning is not really necessary to get nice flowers. While I was in Texas visiting Cameron and Meredith, we were discussing it as we drove by one that had been whacked way back except for one lonely branch that held a long abandoned and crumbling bird nest. Those birds have flown, buddy.

Anyway, Cameron said he called such trimming Crepe Murder. I tend to agree, except the plant does seem to come back. This particular example of Crepe Murder is behind the courthouse in Columbiana, Alabama, where I live. In this case, if you look closely, I believe you can see the bullet hole where someone has tried more than one way to commit Crepe Murder.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally love the title of your post. So funny and true. I was just talking about this with someone the other week and she said that a gardening expert had said that crepe myrtles didn't have to be pruned so harshly, but then why do they always grow back looking so pretty? LOL!

Eeyore said...

They are a hardy plant, I guess, but it makes them so ugly so much of the year. When I was a kid we had one that was about twenty feet tall and never pruned. If I remember right, it produced lovely flowers every year.

Debi said...

Funny!

And p.s. Hope we aren't keeping you from your nap. No, seriously, I love seeing your mug. Why? I don't know. It just makes it nicer when I visit.