Dynamite Crape Myrtle

Dynamite® arrives in the summer landscape like its name suggests — an explosion of cherry red that covers the canopy from mid-summer through early fall in panicles reaching 6 to 14 inches in length. What makes this cultivar genuinely remarkable is the color itself: a true, clear red that held no precedent in the crape myrtle world at the time of its introduction. Earlier red-flowered selections leaned toward watermelon, magenta, or murky rose, but Dynamite® delivers an honest stop-sign red that holds its saturation in full sun through the heat of summer. Flower buds open crimson and unfurl to cherry red in a sequence that keeps fresh color coming across the panicle over an extended bloom period. The ornamental story doesn't end with flowers — new growth emerges a rich crimson red in spring before gradually transitioning to dark glossy green through summer, and fall delivers a warm display of orange to red foliage before leaf drop reveals smooth, mottled bark in tones of tan and gray. The result is a tree with genuine four-season presence and a summer floral display that few deciduous trees can rival for sheer color output over such an extended window. Dynamite® grows as a vigorous, upright deciduous tree reaching 15 to 20 feet or more in height with a spread of 10 to 15 feet in Zones 6–9, and has demonstrated cold hardiness to -5°F in field trials, making it one of the more cold-tolerant large-form crape myrtles available. It performs in full sun and adapts to a wide range of well-drained soils, showing excellent drought tolerance once established — a trait Whitcomb selected for deliberately by planting evaluation seedlings without supplemental irrigation in the Oklahoma field environment. Powdery mildew resistance is high, addressing the historic Achilles heel of Lagerstroemia indica cultivars in humid climates. Because Dynamite® blooms on new wood, it responds well to late winter or early spring pruning to shape or size-control the plant, though it flowers most generously when not cut back hard — selective limbing up rather than topping produces the best combination of form and flower. As a specimen tree, street tree, or mass planting anchor, Dynamite® performs with equal distinction, and it can be trained to single or multi-stem form depending on the desired landscape effect.