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Crepe Myrtle for Bees?

12K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  jdmidwest 
#1 ·
Does anyone plant Crepe Myrtle for bees?

Dad has several out at the farm and the wild bees were working them like crazy a few weeks ago. I picked some seed and plan on starting a few around the house. They bloom late and fill the void for late summer/early fall.
 
#9 ·
I have a white and a red crepe myrtle. The honey bees go to both of them. I always thought bees did not hit red flowers because the cannot see red, however I get as many on the red as the white and they are about 100 yards apart, so it is not because of proximity.
 
#15 ·
Best results for rooting Crape Myrtle comes in January or February. Cut off the long straight shoots that come from the base of the tree and plant about 6 to 12 inches deep. Nursery growers do this straight into the rows of soil. Rooting hormone will help. I have seen commercial growers using shoots 8 to 10 feet long.
 
#16 ·
It is the most planted shrub in OKC because of the long bloom (all summer) and the fact that they are bulletproof, there are thousands of them with in 2 miles of me, however I have only seen bees work them for pollen. If they work them for nectar I have never witnessed it. It is, on the other hand, a great shrub for catching swarms, my bees love to swarm into mine.

 
#17 ·
I dug up a few roots last week when I was out at the farm. They are already sprouting in the pots I planted them in our kitchen. I will put them out in the spring.

I saved some seed, but have not planted them. One thing we noticed, there were not seeds sprouting up near the main plant. Obviously harder to start them from seed.
 
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