crape myrtle problems

[chuck_barham]

I have several Crape Myrtles around my home 2-3 yrs. old, about 1/2 of them look as though there is a black oil on the bark.This winter most died back to the roots, even the ones that looked just fine. Any ideas on the oily bark or as to the die back.

[The Ent]

Not sure about oily bark- never seen them do that before.

I've always treated my Crepes with foliar feed that had a decent amount of corn meal tea to fight off any mold or ick they ever had- and that's been rare to need it.

Are these trees or shrub-sized?

The dieback was probably because while we overall didn't have the most cold cold of winters, we did have a few days of much much lower temps than is normal around here. I'm thinking of the day in Dec where it was 9 when I got up. That may have done it.

[chuck_barham]

Maybe oily is'nt the best description.The truhk and limbs are dark as if they had been burned,but it won't rub off as I thought mold would. As for the cold days I don't remember much past last week.