The Varieties of Weeping Crape Myrtle

What Is Weeping?

• A weeping willow or weeping Japanese cherry tree displays obvious pendent, downward branch tips that create a curtain-like effect. Such a dramatic weeping form is not present in crape myrtle shrubs and trees, but the U.S. National Arboretum's comprehensive Lagerstroemia Checklist does mention several crape myrtles with pendulous or semi-pendulous qualities. Over-zealous, harsh pruning of crape myrtle trees results in lots of long, thin, suckering shoots that may arch once the large, heavy flower clusters develop. However, the somewhat weeping effect is not natural -- it's caused by the regrowth of weak-wooded stems from the pruning wound.

Dixie Series

• Developed and patented by Chopin & Wright Nurseries of Louisiana, the Dixie Series includes 10 cultivars of dwarf crape myrtle shrubs, often described as weeping. These shrubs do not grow taller than 18 to 36 inches, so their weeping habit is more sprawling and prostrate, making them useful as groundcover or foundation shrubs. Pruning the twiggy shrubs back each spring results in vigorous new growth that remains lower and more weeping than shrubs that were never pruned. Cultivars in the Dixie Series include Delta Blush, Baton Rouge/Beverly, June Marie, World's Fair, Snow Lace, New Orleans, Mardi Gras, Lafayette, Cordon Bleu and Bayou Marie.

White Crape Myrtles

• The Lagerstroemia Checklist further describes some white-flowering cultivars as developing semi-pendulous branches. The branches are held at a horizontal, tiered angle and the branch tips droop once the flower clusters appear. Weeping White, White Layers, Natchez and Acoma are examples. The latter two varieties are more commonly found sold by nurseries in the United States. Natchez will grow 25 to 30 feet tall and 25 feet wide with an umbrella-like canopy. Acoma matures only 10 feet tall and equally wide and will look like a huge mound, especially in bloom.

Pink Crape Myrtles

• A few pink-blooming selections are also described with semi-pendulous or weeping habits in the Lagerstroemia Checklist. Candystripe grows 8 to 14 feet tall with the most pendulous branches when in bloom. Osage also looks most weeping when the heavy flower clusters appear. It matures 12 feet tall. Less common cultivars with a weeping tendency include Weeping Pink, also called Rosea pendula, which grows up to 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide. The French cultivar Desal 173 is marketed under the trademark name Alienor or Alienor d'Aquitaine. It grows 10 feet tall.