Hi Y'all

[Gene]

Hi, my name is Gene and I am green as grass to all this Genie stuff.  Came across it on the web and couldn't resist jumping in.  I live in south central Texas with limestone country to the west 'The Texas Hill Country' and blackland cotton country to the east, guess which one I have?     My wife, Ivy, and I started a backyard propagation nursery in our back yard last year and so far, so good. We were not plant people so the learning curve is horrendous.  We are on another message board where we get a lot  of our help but I plan on picking a few brains here also.  We are both early 70ish and enjoy our yard except when it gets over 100 degrees. (We get a lot of that).  I look forward to chatting with Y'all

[ideasguy]

Hi Gene, and welcome aboard! Its really good to have you join us, and I hope we can learn more about the lovely plants you propagate.

You are doing very well indeed on all fronts with these technical challenges!   

For the benefit of our members, heres your shiny new website!
http://www.ideasforgardens.net/ivys/

As for the mainstream of plants that you propagate, Ive seen Lantana in Southern Spain on my holidays last year, and took lots of photos of differnet varieties, but, unfortunately, didnt know which cultivars or species they were. I have to confess, I didnt even know what the Genus was at first, until I found a Garden Centre which had a huge stock of all the plants I'd seen around the region, and more.
I dont recall encountering any Crape Myrtles, but I'll check my notes when I get time. I know from my other forum that they are very popular in the US.

Question to our European members:
Does anyone grow Lantana or Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtles). I checked the RHS PLant Finder, and there are a number of UK suppliers for both genera.

OK members, over to you, say hello to Gene!

[ideasguy]

RE: I live in south central Texas with limestone country to the west 'The Texas Hill Country' and blackland cotton country to the east, guess which one I have?

Blackland?
Heres an interesting historical article I found.
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/MM/hcm8.html
Is McClelland county near you?

[Gene]

Generally river bottom land, very dark and rich loamy soil. Most used for cotton, corn, and other agricultural crops. Gene

[ideasguy]

That sounds like nice fertile soil to work with, Gene

Found a good web site today on your speciality plants.
http://www.crapemyrtles.com
Needs time to load. Some really nice photos!

[The Gardener]

Welcome to the forum Gene.  I wasn't familiar with Crepe Myrtles (UK spelling!) until I looked at George's link, but they look absolutely wonderful.  My RHS Encylopaedia says they are half-hardy, but the website says they will withstand -15°, so I wonder who is right?  If they really can withstand as low temperatures as that. maybe I ought to try one!  Then the problem would be to choose which one as they all look so lovely.  I would love to try Lantanas as well, but they definitely need winter protection, and I don't have much space for overwintering things.  Still, maybe I might give one a try, but next year now!