Beauty with Biological Control by Dr. Russell F. Mizell, III, Professor of Entomology and Dr. Gary W. Knox, Assoc. Horticulturists and homeowners alike love crape myrtle with its red, pink, white, purple, or lavender summer blooms.
Crape myrtle grows under a wide range of site and soil conditions.
It grows best in full sun but will do well in partial shade. If this were not enough, crape myrtle is easy to propagate and grow, comes in sizes from dwarf shrubs to small trees, and has very few insect and disease pests. In the upper South, the Japanese beetle and an exotic weevil, Callirhopalus bipunctalus , can be pests. A metallic green flea beetle, Altica sp ., and a brown striped beetle, Colaspis floridana , are occasional pests. Crapemyrtle aphid is host specific to crape myrtle, so it does not feed on other plants.