A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Mystery Plants? What tree is this????

I am seeing this tree all around the city here in Northern IL. It has the shape of a cleveland pear and it is blooming this week with white lilac style blooms....They are beautiful! Im sorry i don't have a pic.
Any clue on what this is?

Greg

i just went to www.fast-growing-trees.com. The blossoms look like a Natchez Crape Myrtle tree but i think we are too far north for this.
The bark looks like a cross between a cherry and river birch tree.
I looked at the dogwoods and the golden raintrees also. The trees we have around here have white lilac style blossoms tho.

Help!!!

Greg

Sure would help to have a pic. :wink:

I have a deep purple Crepe (Crape) Myrtle in my backyard and there are watermelon-colored ones in my Grandmother's yard. I've also seen lavendar blooms, almost red blooms, white, and pink blooms.

I was reading something about the Natchez Crepe Myrtle and noticed two things:

1. They interchanged the spelling between Crape and Crepe.
2. They applied the 'crepe' aspect as belonging to the leaves. ??????

I always heard that the 'crepe' aspect was due to the bark shedding of this tree wherein the layer that flakes off is much like crepe paper....which it is (from personal experience). It has nothing to do with the leaves or the blooms or any other part of the tree.

Not everything that looks 'official' on the internet is necessarily correct.

My Crepe Myrtle doesn't bloom until July. Other 'colors' bloom earlier. They are said to bloom for 90 days and it seems to be true. Here is a pic of mine as it is right now and also a pick of the 'crepeing' which it is doing now.

Classic White flowers from spring to fall.

Natchez growing zones : 6-10

Mature Height: 20-30 ft.
Mature Width: 20 ft.
Sunlight: Full or Partial
Soil Conditions: Adaptable
Drought Tolerance: Good
Pure white blossoms
Grows 3-5 ft. per year!
Tolerant of many climates

I had a 'senior moment' in my earlier post on this issue wherein I stated that the flakey, peeling bark is much like crepe paper. My neurons got crossed because of some stuff I read on the internet that is incorrect.

The flakey, peeling bark is thin and flakey like french crepes. THAT'S where it got its name....not crepe paper. I've also seen reference to the blooms that are curly and are referenced as being either 'looking curly like crepe paper' or 'feeling like crepe paper.' The blooms do not feel like crepe paper and only marginally 'look' like crepe paper.

At any rate, just wanted to straighten this out.

#1 All my life I have been told it got its name due to the similarity of the shedding bark to french crepes.
#2 I've never known it to be spelled 'crape'. It's always been crepe because that's how the word is spelled in reference to french crepes.
#3 I've never felt a blossom that felt like crepe paper. They're soft.

And there are some varieties of Crepe Myrtle that are cold hardy as far north as Norther Illinois (zone 5?).

Crepe Myrtle is also often referred to as "The lilac of the South."

I think I know whatcha' mean GG . . . are those white blossoms going a bit yellow right now?

We have a lot of them in this neighbourhood - I'll ask somebody.