With their spectacular displays of spring and summer blooms, rich fall foliage and unusual bark, crepe myrtle flowering trees ...

They're called bark scale. They're tiny little insects but they're destructive and causing big problems across the DMV.

Q: About three weeks ago our crape myrtles started dropping leaves. We’ve lived here 20 years and we’ve never seen them do this before. They were watered weekly. Any idea what the problem might be?

Dear Neil: About three weeks ago our crape myrtles started dropping leaves. We’ve lived here 20 years and we’ve never seen them do this before. They were watered weekly. Any idea what the ...

White, wooly adults (figure 1, 2) with pink to purple eggs underneath (Figure 3) can be seen in late spring. The first generation was observed in late May through early June using a hand lens or ...

For the record, however, notice how strongly the new shoots have grown on the crape myrtle down the hill. One of the plants came through unscathed and is blooming beautifully. The one to the right ...

For the record, however, notice how strongly the new shoots have grown on the crape myrtle down the hill. One of the plants came through unscathed and is blooming beautifully. The one to the right ...

Dear Neil: We have two large crape myrtles next to our community pool. They were damaged by the February 2021 cold spell. They’re alive, but they only have random clumps of leaves on some ...

A: Lovely landscape. Lovely crape myrtles. Without watching your plants operate during that time, I’m going to have to give it an educated guess. It still is likely that they got a bit dry.