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?).