So in my part of Europe, we had a fairly cold April and may, and June looks like it will finally be better. Have any of you experienced slowed growth after an initial spurt if the nights get cold again?
My crape myrtle tree slowed down to almost a stand still for about 3 weeks.. now new buds are appearing.

I was very happy to see them the last couple of days.

Hi, Tubaboy, why don't you post a picture of the new growth?
I really like Craple Myrtles but they usually are difficult for bonsai.

i have one myself, here in California we have had a wet and cold spring. my myrtle seems to be doing great. ive actually noticed its been putting out more growth than every before so it seems to be loving it. ive also moved it out to full sun this year as i use to keep it in dappled shade all year around so that also might be helping.

As part of the Great Azalea Project when I was digging up the azaleas I also dug up a half dozen crape myrtles. It was too late to do anything other than stick them in pots. I will have a lot of flowering trees next year. I just expanded my shelf space about 30% and now only five or six are sitting on the porch. Maybe a year from now I will have them all on stands.

One reason they are difficult, is that they seem to only backbud close to the trunk, when you cut them back pretty hard in the winter... and then, the won't flower. The tree seems to be fine, the new growth had just slowed down a bit.

tubaboy wrote:

The tree seems to be fine, the new growth had just slowed down a bit.

Your tree is amazing!
Such great movement, I am glad you have posted it, because I had lost hope of seeing a good Myrtle but... They exist!

Thank you so much! As with any good tree it is not only the hands of one person that can make it great.. This isn't only my work.. It had a great trunk when I got it.

One of my ideas when I started getting better at bonsai, and more knowledgeable was to get trees in different stages of development.